Legal official faces decades of incarceration.
Once a rival of Erdogan, Selahattin Demirtas, a Kurdish politician, ended up in prison on terrorism charges back in 2016. Now, a Turkish court has handed him a sentence of over 40 years in prison. On the other hand, the European Court of Human Rights is asking for his release.
Reports suggest that the ex-chairman of the pro-Kurdish HDP party, Demirtas, has been found guilty by a court in Turkey. The charges against him include breaking the state's unity and infringing its territorial integrity. These allegations stem from the violent protests that transpired in 2014 due to IS militants laying siege to the northern Syrian city of Kobane.
Alongside Demirtas, Figen Yüksekdag, another former HDP co-chair, was sentenced to 30 years and three months in prison by the court in Sincan, which is a suburb of Ankara. Additionally, countless pro-Kurdish politicians received prison sentences ranging from nine to 30 years, according to MLSA (Mazlum-Der Human Rights Association). They intend to appeal against the judgments.
In the court case revolving around the ferocious riots that occurred in the Syrian-Kurdish city of Kobane in 2014, Demirtas was charged with 47 counts, such as disrupting the state's unity and territorial integrity, as well as inciting others to commit crime. The prosecutor's office sought life imprisonment on 38 counts. The trial started in April 2021 and the defense team branded it a politically-motivated endeavor.
The ECtHR (European Court of Human Rights) has been critical of the trial and has pushed for Demirtas' release. Overall, 108 individuals were charged in the trial, with multiple people being acquitted.
Following the verdict against their comrades in the Kobane conspiracy case, Yesil Sol Partisi (Green Left Party), a political organization under whose banner HDP candidates contested, tweeted, "The unlawful verdicts in the Kobane conspiracy case will not deter us as we continue our fight for peace, democracy, and freedom! This unlawful verdict will be a source of shame for the governing coalition."
When the predominantly Kurdish-populated town of Kobane, situated near the Turkish border in northern Syria, was assaulted by IS militants in 2014, protests erupted. Tragically, 37 individuals lost their lives amidst the unrest.
Charismatic and strong-willed, Demirtas had long been a formidable contender of Erdogan. He had challenged him twice in the presidential elections. Subsequently, the Turkish government, based in Ankara, accused the HDP of being akin to the outlawed underground organization PKK. The PKK is categorized as a terrorist entity by the EU, USA, and Turkey. Despite the HDP's assertions of no association with terrorism, the party has been banned, and it now operates as a DEM (Democratic Regions Party) in parliament.
Erdogan's AK Party suffered a significant setback in the local elections on March 31, 2022. Consequently, his objective of holding a referendum on a constitutional amendment that might enable him to stay in power beyond 2028 has become more challenging.
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- The European Court of Human Rights (ACP) has expressed concern over the prolonged imprisonment of Selahattin Demirtas, a former Kurdish politician and HDP party leader, who was sentenced to over 40 years in prison in Turkey due to alleged attempts to disrupt the country's unity and territorial integrity.
- Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish President, has faced criticism from international organizations, including the ECHR, for his government's handling of the case against Demirtas, who has been perceived as a significant opposition figure and a potential challenger to his political power.
- The attempted coup in Turkey in 2016 and subsequent crackdown on political dissidents, such as Demirtas and his allies from the pro-Kurdish HDP party, have raised concerns about the state of democracy and human rights in Turkey, with many arguing that the judicial process has been politically motivated.
Source: www.ntv.de
