Selahattin Demirtaş not allowed to see his daughters

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Başak Demirtaş, the wife of Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) former Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş, has announced that Selahattin Demirtaş, currently arrested in Edirne Type F Prison, has not been allowed to see his daughters together since the pandemic broke out in Turkey in early March 2020.

Sharing a series of messages on her social media account, Başak Demirtaş has indicated that "since the pandemic started, Selahattin Demirtaş could see his daughters only for once and separately."

Başak Demirtaş's full statement is as follows:

"The workers, public laborers and private sector workers who have to work in difficult conditions, those who sit side by side on planes, the ones who attend the government's events and rallies are not infected with corona (!)

"But in non-contact visits held with a double glass and iron fences on both sides, your loved ones are infected with corona even though you wear a mask and face shield (!) That is why visitations were held once a month.

"Especially when two children meet their father in a non-contact visitation, they immediately catch corona (!) For this very reason, our daughters Delal and Dılda were not allowed to see their father together.

"Open visits have been suspended as a corona measure, I understand. But why do you prevent non-contact visits? Ok, let's say you prevent it, why don't you give the right to make a phone call instead? You talked about video conference, but what happened? Why do you usurp our right?

"Most importantly, if there is a risk of corona, why don't you release jailed politicians, journalists and people whose lives are at risk?

"Selahattin was not allowed to see our daughters Delal and Dılda together. Since the pandemic broke out, Selahattin could see our daughters only for once each and he saw them separately."

Trial of Selahattin Demirtaş

Selahattin Demirtaş was detained on November 4, 2016. He was arrested and sent to Silivri Prison in İstanbul on the same day. He is still behind bars in Silivri.

All his investigations, except for one, have been combined in a single file. The lawsuit filed at the Ankara 19th Heavy Penal Court has still not been concluded. As his request for release as part of this suit was rejected, his attorneys appealed to the Constitutional Court.

In their application to the Constitutional Court on May 29, 2018, the attorneys requested that his application be reviewed with priority. However, the Court has not yet responded to the application. On June 26, 2018, his case was taken to the ECtHR.

Shortly after this appeal to the ECtHR, the court announced its judgment in his second case. Tried in the case together with former HDP MP Sırrı Süreyya Önder, Selahattin Demirtaş has been sentenced to 4 years, 8 months in prison on the charge of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" by the İstanbul 26th Heavy Penal Court.

One month later, on October 25, 2018, his verdict of conviction reached the 2nd Penal Chamber of İstanbul Regional Court of Justice, the court of appeal.

On November 17, 2018, the ECtHR announced that it would announce its judgment as to his application on November 20. The court of appeal swiftly reviewed the verdict of conviction of Demirtaş and started discussing it on November 19.

On November 20, 2018, the ECtHR concluded that Demirtaş was "arrested with political motivations" and ruled for his release.

The Ankara 19th Heavy Penal Court rejected his request for release on November 30, 2018, indicating that "his arrest was a moderate measure".

On December 4, 2018, the 2nd Penal Chamber of İstanbul Regional Court of Justice upheld his verdict of conviction. With this verdict, Demirtaş became an arrested convict.

The attorneys of Demirtaş appealed again to the ECtHR on February 19, 2019, and requested that the issues not discussed, found inadmissible and not regarded as violation right be reviewed again.

The government also appealed against the ECtHR verdict on Demirtaş. In its petition, the government also requested that the ECtHR review its ruling of right violation again. That being the case, the case of Demirtaş has been taken to the ECtHR Grand Chamber, which announced that it would discuss the application on September 18, 2019.

In his hearing at the Ankara 19th Heavy Penal Court on September 2, the court board has ruled that Demirtaş shall be released.

Demirtaş has not been released.

(AS/SD)