Selahattin Demirtaş granted Weimar Human Rights Award

Selahattin Demirtaş, the jailed former Co-Chair of the HDP, has been granted the 2021 Weimar Human Rights Award on the grounds that he was “one of the most important opposition politicians in Turkey’s recent history.”

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Selahattin Demirtaş granted Weimar Human Rights Award

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Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) former Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş has been granted the 2021 Weimar Human Rights Award.

The award-giving ceremony will be held in December.

Even though the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has concluded that "his imprisonment is political and he shall be released immediately", Selahattin Demirtaş has been behind bars in the Edirne Type F Prison since November 4, 2016.

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'One of the most important opposition politicians'

As reported by Deutsche Welle (DW) Türkçe, the Göttingen-based Society for Threatened Peoples (STP-GfbV), an international human rights organization that advocates for threatened ethnic and religious minorities, nationalities and indigenous communities, has announced that the Weimar City Council has accepted the award committee's proposal.

In the statement, it is indicated that Selahattin Demirtaş is "one of the most important opposition politicians in Turkey's recent history."

It is also stated that Demirtaş defended "peaceful solution to the Kurdish question, democratization, freedom of belief of Christian, Alevi and Yazidi faith groups" and "equality of rights of Kurdish, Assyrian, Armenian and Greek people in Turkey in terms of language, politics and culture".

Meral Danış Beştaş given the prize as well

Last year, the Weimar City Council granted the human rights award to Dutch Catholic Priest Jozef Jan Michel Kuppens and Felicia K Monjeza from Malawi. It was announced that the award was granted due to their efforts to end the modern slavery in the tobacco plantations in Malawi.

As for the other politicians from Turkey granted the award, HDP Adana MP and lawyer Meral Danış Beştaş received it in 1998.

About Selahattin Demirtaş

Selahattin Demirtaş was born in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeastern province of Diyarbakır in 1973. He graduated from the Faculty of Law of Ankara University. He worked as a self-employed lawyer.

He was the Executive Board Member and Branch Chair of the Human Rights Association (İHD) Diyarbakır Branch. When Demirtaş was its Chair, the Association's policy was oriented towards addressing the unidentified murders. In the same period, he was also among the founders of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV-HRFT) and Amnesty International Diyarbakır.

He held executive positions in the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV-HRFT) and Amnesty International Turkey.

Entering politics at the Democratic Society Party (DTP) in 2007, Demirtaş was elected an MP in the 23rd Legislative Session. He joined the DTP group at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) and was the Parliamentary group deputy chair. After the DTP was closed in 2009, he and Gültan Kışanak were elected the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Co-Chairs.

At the General Elections in 2011, he was elected the Hakkari MP of the Labor, Democracy and Freedom Bloc in the 24th Legislative Session.

BDP Co-Chair during the Resolution Process for the Kurdish Questions, Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ were elected the Co-Chairs of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) on June 22, 2014.

Running for President at the Presidential Election on August 10, 2014, Demirtaş was elected an MP at both June 7 and November 1 elections in 2015.

After the legislative immunity of several lawmakers facing summaries of proceedings were lifted on May 20, 2016, over 90 files about Demirtaş were sent to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

Stripped of his MP status and arrested, Selahattin Demirtaş faces two aggravated life sentences and 486 years in prison in total. His convictions in other cases have also become final.

(AS/SD)

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