The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that Turkey violated right to speedy trial of pro-Kurdish opposition politician Selahattin Demirtas, urging his release.
In Tuesday’s judgment, the top human rights court accepted that Demirtas, who has been in jail since November 2016, had been detained on “reasonable suspicion” of having committed a criminal offence.
But the court said judicial authorities had extended the politician’s detention on grounds that could not be regarded as “sufficient” to justify its duration.
The court said that his pre-trial detention interfered with his freedom of expression as he could not take part in parliament activities as an elected MP.
He is one of two former co-leaders of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
The ECHR said the extensions of his detention were “beyond reasonable doubt,” especially during his campaigns for April 2017 constitutional referendum and June 2018 presidential election, in which the politician was a candidate.
“[The extensions of detention] had pursued the predominant ulterior purpose of stifling pluralism and limiting freedom of political debate, which was at the very core of the concept of a democratic society,” the court’s statement said.
“The Court therefore held, unanimously, that the respondent state was to take all necessary measures to put an end to the applicant’s pre-trial detention,” it added.
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