Rights groups urge CoE Council of Ministers to ensure Demirtaş's release

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Five rights groups have called on the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers to direct Turkey to release Selahattin Demirtaş, the former co-chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in compliance with a European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgment in December. 

ARTICLE 19, Human Rights Watch, the International Commission of Jurists, the International Federation for Human Rights, and the Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project (TLSP) made a detailed joint submission to the committee, which oversees enforcement of the ECtHR.

They asked it to issue the decision at its meeting on March 9 and 11, 2021. The groups said that Turkey continues to violate Demirtaş's rights by flouting a landmark judgment.

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"President Erdoğan and senior Turkish officials have responded to the European Court's judgment ordering Demirtaş's release with false arguments that it does not apply to his current detention and that the court's rulings are not binding on Turkey," said Aisling Reidy, senior legal adviser at Human Rights Watch.

"The Committee of Ministers should call on Turkey to release Demirtaş immediately and leave no doubt that disregarding or attempting to bypass judgments of the Strasbourg court is unacceptable," she added.

"An attempt to circumvent compliance with the ECtHR judgment"

About a new indictment brought after the European court judgment, Helen Duffy of the TLSP said, "Charging such a prominent political figure with 30 serious 'new' offences based on political speeches mostly 6 years ago, which the Court already found to be protected, is pure repackaging – a thinly veiled attempt to circumvent compliance with the Court's judgment requiring immediate release."

"The Grand Chamber already rejected earlier 'reclassification' attempts, and it is time for a robust response by the Committee of Ministers to break the cycle of evasion," she added.

The groups urged the Committee of Ministers to call on Turkey's government to:

• Immediately release Demirtaş as required by the ECtHR judgment, and make clear that the judgment applies to his ongoing detention and to any future charges or detentions in which the factual or legal basis is substantially similar to that which the ECtHR has already addressed in its judgment.
• Halt all criminal proceedings initiated against Demirtaş following the constitutional amendment lifting his immunity, which was deemed unlawful by the ECtHR's Grand Chamber.
• End the abuse of judicial proceedings to harass Demirtaş, stifle pluralism, and limit freedom of political debate, emphasizing that this cessation is essential to the restoration of Demirtaş's rights.
• End interference in Demirtaş's cases, especially by attempting to pressure or unduly influence judicial authorities.
• Publicly correct false claims promoted by senior Turkish government officials that the Grand Chamber judgment in the Demirtaş case and European Court judgments more generally, are not binding. (EKN/VK)