ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Ankara Regional Court of Justice on Monday overturned the prison sentence of Selahattin Demirtas, the jailed Kurdish politician who has been imprisoned for his alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) since November 2016, although he remains incarcerated while his case is sent back to Turkey’s high criminal court.
The former co-chair of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) has been tried several times in a series of different cases since 2016, and was sentenced to two years and six months in May on the charges of allegedly insulting a former Turkish prosecutor, Yuksel Kocaman, during a court hearing in 2020, following an earlier four year and eight month prison sentence for a speech he made during Newroz celebrations in 2013 which was upheld last year.
Lawyers for Demirtas appealed this latest ruling, taking it to Ankara’s appeal court, which revoked the sentence on Monday, ruling that his case should be sent back to the country’s high criminal court, according to independent Turkish media.
Some Turkish officials claim that the HDP is the political wing of the PKK - an armed group fighting for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey, designated a terrorist group by Ankara and the cause of Turkey’s latest operation in the northern mountains of the Kurdistan Region. The HDP has denied links with the group.
The Turkish government has cracked down on the HDP for years, jailing top officials, members and supporters. In December 2020, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered the “immediate release” of Demirtas, finding “several violations” of the European Convention on Human Rights in the case of his detention.
On Monday afternoon, a day which also saw the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, the Paris-born philanthropist Osman Kavala, 64, learnt that he will spend the rest of his life behind bars in a widely criticised decision, having been held in Turkish detention since October 2017.
The court in Istanbul also sentenced seven other defendants, including 71-year-old architect Mucella Yapici, to 18 years in prison for “aiding” his “attempt” to overthrow Erdogan’s government in connection with the 2013 mass anti-government protests.
"The only thing that would console me is the possibility that what I have gone through helps put an end to grave judicial mistakes," Kavala told the court in a closing statement issued on Friday, before Monday’s decision.
The ruling drew boos from an audience including Western diplomats attempting to stress the importance of rights issues and judicial independence in the other high-profile political case of the day, according to AFP, with Emma Sinclair-Webb from Human Rights Watch calling Kavala’s sentencing "the worst possible outcome to this show trial."
The European Commission published their 2021 report on Turkey’s accession to the European Union in October, raising concerns about the state of rights, rule of law, press freedom and judicial independence, sixteen years after Turkey’s membership talks to join the EU began. That same month, Kavala’s detention sparked a diplomatic crisis between Turkey and ten Western countries - including the US, France and Germany - after they called for his release.
Gezi dört duvara sığmaz. Halen mi öğrenemediler, korku korksun bizlerden.
— Selahattin Demirtaş (@hdpdemirtas) April 26, 2022
Following news of Kavala's verdict, Demirtas tweeted on Tuesday that, "Gezi can't fit in four walls," referring to the 2013 protests linked to the Gezi Park in Istanbul, and those subsequently tried - including Kavala - for their alleged involvement or support. "They haven't learned it yet, let fear be afraid of us," he added.
Kavala’s treatment previously prompted the Council of Europe to launch disciplinary proceedings that could now see Turkey's membership suspended. The European Court of Human Rights ordered Turkey to release Kavala in 2019, with the Council of Europe warning Ankara to comply with the ruling or it would take action, including possibly suspending Turkey’s voting rights or membership.
Turkey has come under sustained fire from international human rights groups for its prolific detention of journalists, lawyers, activists and opposition figures. Last year, organisations including ARTICLE 19, Human Rights Watch, the International Commission of Jurists, the International Federation for Human Rights, and the Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project called on Europe’s foreign ministers to urge Turkey to “immediately release” Demirtas in line with the European court ruling, dismissed by Erdogan.
