Highest Turkish court rejects imprisoned Kurdish leader's appeal

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) - Turkey's Constitutional Court on Thursday rejected an appeal by Selahattin Demirtas, the jailed co-leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), in which he said his arrest last year and continued detention for 13 months were unlawful.

Held at a supermax prison in the northwestern province of Edirne on the border with Greece, Demirtas added that authorities violated his rights to freedom of expression, carrying out political activities and right to represent his constituency as a lawmaker.

There were also restrictions on him and his lawyers in accessing the content of the ongoing investigations against him.

Kurdistan 24's Ankara bureau reported that the Constitutional Court deemed the HDP leader's arguments "unfounded," the same reasoning it gave last month regarding an appeal by MP Gulser Yildirim of Mardin.

Earlier this month a criminal court in the Turkish capital ruled that Demirtas should remain imprisoned until the next hearing on February 14, 2018.

Prosecutors have asked up to 142 years in prison for Demirtas whom President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government accuses of terrorism and separatism, and other crimes filed against him in over 100 dossiers.

He has also been charged with insulting the Turkish republic and Erdogan.

Police arrested Demirtas in November 2016 when a massive ongoing state crackdown on HDP began resulting in the continued detention of nine lawmakers, over 80 mayors, and seven thousand members and ouster from the parliament of so far five MPs.

In September, the court rejected another appeal by two HDP lawmakers, Tugba Hezer of the Van Province and Faysal Sariyildiz of the Sirnak Province, to reverse a decision on their ouster from the Parliament.

In a report on the Kurdish leader's case, the Human Rights Watch said the prolonged pretrial detention of Demirtas challenged basic democratic principles and was part of a wider pattern of repression against government critics.

“Holding the leader of a major opposition party in pretrial detention for over a year on flimsy charges is another example of the political abuse of the criminal justice system we repeatedly see in Turkey,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe, and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

“Keeping Demirtas in jail for months on end not only denies his right to political association, participation, and freedom of expression, but it disenfranchises those who voted for him and his party,” he added.

“The evidence against Selahattin Demirtaş consists largely of his political speeches and lacks any compelling evidence of criminal activity,” Williamson said.

“It’s hard to conclude otherwise than that the case against him is the Turkish government’s politically motivated attempt to undermine the parliamentary opposition.”

Editing by Sam A.