MESOPOTAMIA NEWS FOCUS : EU Human rights court orders Turkey to free Kurdish PKK/HDP politician
Detention of Selahattin Demirtaş contrary to ‘very core of the concept of a democratic society’
Bethen McKernan Tue 22 Dec. 2020, The Guardian
The European court of human rights has ordered the immediate release of the prominent Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş from prison in Turkey, finding that his detention goes against “the very core of the concept of a democratic society”.
The grand chamber ruling issued on Tuesday said that Demirtaş, a charismatic figure who could face a sentence of 142 years if convicted in the main trial against him, had had his freedom of expression, liberty and other rights violated.
His detention had “the ulterior purpose of stifling pluralism and limiting freedom of political debate”, sending “a dangerous message to the entire population”, the panel of 17 judges found.