ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – An Ankara court on Friday decided not to release Selahattin Demirtas pending a decision on his appeal of a terror conviction, despite a recent ruling from the European Court of Human Rights. “This is clearly a violation of the constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights,” said Pervin Buldan and Sezai Temelli, co-chairs of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), in a statement reacting to the court’s decision not to release their colleague. The European Court of Human Rights found several instances of human rights violations in Turkey’s handling of Demirtas’ case in its November 20 ruling and called for an end to his pre-trial detention. Turkey’s leadership rejected the court’s ruling, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying the European institution’s rulings “do not bind us.” The rulings of the court are binding on all signatories of the European Convention of Human Rights, which Turkey signed onto in 1950. The court in Ankara on Friday reasoned that the European court’s decision had not been finalized and unanimously rejected Demirtas’ appeal for his release. Buldan and Temelli claimed the court decided to keep Demirtas in jail under political pressure from Erdogan and his executive. Demirtas could serve up to 142 years in jail if convicted on the numerous charges he faces, stemming from allegations of ties to the PKK. He has denied the charges.
