Constitutional Court Rejects Applications of Kışanak and Tuncel

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The applications which were submitted by arrested politicians Gültan Kışanak and Sebahat Tuncel to the Constitutional Court in 2017 have been rejected on the ground that "they are without merit".

Former Diyarbakır Metropolitan Mayor Gültan Kışanak and Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Co-Chair Sebahat Tuncel, who have been behind bars since 2016, appealed to the court on the following grounds:

* The violation of the right to personal freedom and security on the ground that the measure of imprisonment is not lawful and the period of arrest has exceeded the reasonable time;

* The violation of freedom of expression and the right to engage in political activities on the ground that the charges which resulted in imprisonment pertain to actions that fall within the scope of freedom of expression and that the political duties cannot be fulfilled as a result of arrest.

All items in the applications rejected

The Constitutional Court announced its detailed ruling regarding the application of Tuncel dated May 18, 2017 and the application of Kışanak dated May 5, 2017 on its official website today (December 4).

The court has unanimously ruled that "the allegations that the right to personal freedom and security has been violated due to the unlawfulness of arrest and that the period of arrest has exceeded reasonable time are inadmissible since they are openly without merit."

The allegation that their right of engaging in political activities has been violated has also been deemed inadmissible by the court.

They are tried in Malatya

Gültan Kışanak, the former Diyarbakır Metropolitan Mayor, was arrested on October 30, 2016 and Sebahat Tuncel, the Co-Chair of the Democratic Regions Party (DBP), was arrested on November 6, 2016. They have been currently in the Kandıra Type F Prison.

Being tried at the Malatya 1st Heavy Penal Court, Kışanak has faced 57 years and 6 months to 230 years and 6 months in prison on charges including "establishing and leading an armed terrorist organization" and "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" for 41 times.

Sebahat Tuncel has also faced up to 145 years in prison on charges of "being a member of an armed terrorist organization" and "propagandizing for a terrorist organization". (AS/SD)