Diyarbakır Bar applies to Council of Europe for Selahattin Demirtaş

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The Diyarbakır Bar Association has sent a petition to the Committee of Minister of the Council of Europe about the continued arrest of Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) former Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş.

Sharing its observations and recommendations about Turkey's failure to implement the ruling of rights violation and immediate release given by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) for jailed politician Demirtaş, also a lawyer himself, the Diyarbakır Bar Association has wanted it to be stressed that the ECtHR ruling covers his continued arrest as well.

The Diyarbakır Bar has noted that the application has been made as per the related articles of the Bylaws of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. It has also recalled that Selahattin Demirtaş, who has been behind bars in Edirne Prison since November 2016, is a lawyer registered in the Diyarbakır Bar Association with the registration number 905.

'An unlawful act on the judicial authorities'

Reminding the Committee of Ministers that the ECtHR ruling of rights violation dated December 22, 2020 has not been implemented and that Demirtaş is still behind bars, the Diyarbakır Bar has briefly said:

"The Diyarbakır Bar Association has stated that the reactions given to the ECtHR decision by Turkey's top public officials and the arguments that the ECtHR judgements are not binding or the ECtHR judgement is not valid for Demirtaş's current detention are an unlawful act on the judicial authorities conducting the proceedings against Demirtaş. They report that it has created and continues to exert pressure or influence."

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A new indictment on the same charge

The petition has also highlighted the following points:

"On December 30, 2020, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office issued a new indictment against Demirtaş, who was accused of being involved in the events of 6-8 October 2014, and 107 people, including former HDP deputies, and the trial continues in front of the Ankara 22nd High Criminal Court on the basis on 2021/6. is doing.

"In the ongoing judicial process by the Ankara 22nd High Criminal Court, Demirtaş's detention continues, contrary to the binding court decision, by not complying with the ECtHR's decision regarding immediate release.

"Diyarbakır Bar Association is a re-characterization of the same facts and events dealt with by the Grand Chamber in the Selahattin Demirtaş vs. Turkey (No. 2) decision of the Ankara 22nd High Criminal Court's case numbered 2021/6, which constitutes the basis for Demirtaş's ongoing detention, observes that. Therefore, the violation of Demirtaş's rights continues, as determined by the Court, with his continued detention."

The Bar Association has stressed that "the indictment is based on the same vague allegations and facts that the Grand Chamber found insufficient to justify Demirtaş's detention in its decision."

"The indictment does not contain any concrete evidence of Demirtaş's ties to any illegal act and does not provide a reasonable justification for Demirtaş's continued detention. It also clearly contradicts the clear determinations of the Grand Chamber and Turkey's obligations to fulfill the judgements of the ECtHR," the Diyarbakır Bar Association has underlined further.

'Abuse of criminal procedure in Turkey'

Further in its petition, the Bar has referred to the "Demirtaş judgement of the ECtHR as a reflection of the structural problem of abuse of criminal procedure in Turkey" by sharing the following observation:

In its decision, the Grand Chamber ordered the immediate release of Selahattin Demirtaş. In addition, as can be understood from the reasons given in the decision, the Court expressed the structural problem of abuse of criminal justice in Turkey, namely, politically motivated trials and unlawful arrests. Selahattin Demirtaş's case is not singular, and many HDP politicians are subjected to arbitrary judicial processes. It reflects the structural problem and practice that has arisen in the many other cases that have reached the Court and the Committee.

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'It should be accepted as a lead case'

Concluding the petition, the Diyarbakır Bar Association has made a series of calls of calls to the Committee of Ministers, including the following:

• The decision of Selahattin Demirtaş v. Turkey (No. 2) should be classified for follow-up under the qualified review procedure and should be accepted as the lead case under the heading of violations of Articles 5 and 18 of the Convention, specific to the detention of parliamentarians for political purposes.
• In accordance with the ECtHR's decision, a call should be made for the immediate release of Demirtaş and it should be stated that his continued detention continues in violation of his rights, which the Court has found to be violated, as the Grand Chamber has found.
• It should be emphasized that the Grand Chamber decision also covers the continued detention of Selahattin Demirtaş. It should be emphasized that the decision will also cover the future charges or detentions that may be brought forward, whose factual or legal basis is substantially similar, as mentioned by the ECtHR.
• Considering the Grand Chamber's determination that the constitutional amendment that paved the way for Demirtaş's arrest did not meet the standard of legality of the Convention and that all proceedings initiated following the amendment should be deemed unlawful, a call was made to stop and drop all criminal proceedings against him after his immunity was lifted with the constitutional amendment, must be found.

Click here for the full petition in Turkish and English

(KÖ/SD)