Selahattin Demirtaş

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Detained Since: November 4, 2016.

Charges: "Disrupting the unity and integrity of the state," "inciting an offense,” "making propaganda for a terrorist organization," and "inciting people to disobey the law.”

• Previous Charges: Carrying out "terrorist propaganda."

Sentence: Combined sentence of 42 years in prison.

• Previous Sentence: Four years and eight months for "carrying out terrorist propaganda" (September 7, 2018).

Biography: Selahattin Demirtaș is a Kurdish politician from Turkey. He began his career as a lawyer with Turkey's Human Rights Association and was first elected to the Turkish parliament in 2007. He is the former co-chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), Turkey's third-largest political party. He was re-elected as a member of parliament for the HDP in June 2015.

Demirtaș and 11 other members of his party were arrested on November 4, 2016 during President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's crackdown on political opposition. Demirtaș was a member of parliament at the time of his arrest but his parliamentary immunity was lifted. The charges against him included "carrying out terrorist propaganda" based on speeches he made supporting peace negotiations between the Turkish government and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). On January 18, 2017, Turkish prosecutors announced they were seeking a 142-year prison sentence on multiple charges for Demirtaş. On September 7, 2018, he was sentenced to four years and eight months for a speech he had made on March 20, 2013.

On November 20, 2018, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which enforces the European Convention on Human Rights to which Turkey is a signatory, characterized the extensions of pretrial detention of Demirtaș as having the "ulterior purpose of stifling pluralism and limiting the freedom of political debate" and ordered his release. Based on the ruling, Demirtaș immediately appealed his detention before a Turkish court. But on November 30 the court rejected the appeal on the grounds that the ECHR ruling was not definitive. In addition, by the time of the ECHR ruling, Demirtaș had been convicted. Since the ruling addressed his lengthy pretrial detention, the government used the conviction as justification not to release him. The September 2018 sentence was upheld on December 4, 2018 by an appeals court.

Demirtaș ran as the HDP's candidate in Turkey's 2018 presidential election from his prison cell. He came in third place with 8.40% of the vote -- over 4 million votes in total.

Advocate: Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD)

Updates:

• The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is set to hear Turkey’s appeal on the detention of Selahattin Demirtaş. The ECHR will reevaluate its ruling in the fall of 2018 that Mr. Demirtaş should be released, as his detention had exceeded a “reasonable period" (March 19, 2019, Hurriyet).
• In an Op-Ed for the Washington Post, Selahattin Demirtaș discused the HDP's electoral successes in Turkey's recent municipal elections and presented his vision for building inclusive peace and democracy in Turkey (April 19, 2019, Washington Post).
• The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled by unanimous decision that Turkey has violated the freedom of expression of Selahattin Demirtaș (July 9, 2019, Ahval). 
• The “Free Demirtaş Initiative” launched a social media campaign demanding freedom for Selahattin Demirtaș, the imprisoned former co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) (August 6, 2019, Ahval).
• In Turkey, the Ankara 19th High Criminal Court ruled to release jailed Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş pending trial, but he was not allowed to leave prison since he had been convicted in another case (September 3, 2019, Stockholm Center for Freedom).
• In a letter to President Erdoğan, 48 members of the European Parliament called the arrest of Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, the former co-chairman of the HDP, and the persecution of other opposition members in Turkey a threat to democracy that cannot be justified (September 13, 2019, European Parliament).
• Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) announced his decision to advocate for Selahattin Demirtaş through the TLHRC Defending Freedoms Project, calling the Kurdish politician's case "a scandal and an outrage" (October 18, 2019, Congressman Jamie Raskin Press Office).  
• After temporarily losing consciousness and experiencing shortness of breath and chest pains, Demirtaş was denied specialized medical care and was returned to prison after a brief referred to the hospital on December 2nd (December 3, 2019, Turkey Purge).
• The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Selahattin Demirtaş should be immediately released as he has had his freedom of expression, liberty and other rights violated (December 22, 2020, The Guardian). 
• Selahattin Demirtaş was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in jail by a Turkish court for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (March 24, 2021, Jurist.com).
• The Turkish Court of Cassation upheld a four-year and eight-month prison sentence against the imprisoned former co-leader of the pro-Kurdish HDP, Selahattin Demirtaş (Kurdistan 24, May 1, 2021).
• During a campaign event on March 10, 2022, opposition candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu stated that, if elected president, he would release all political prisoners, including Selahattin Demirtaş (March 11, 2022, Turkish Minute).
• In March 2022, it was reported that the deputy chairman of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) said that Turkey should "find a new formula" to comply with European Court of Human Rights rulings which order the release of prisoners of conscience, including Selahattin Demirtaş (March 22, 2022, Stockholm Center for Freedom).
• On April 1, 2022, it was reported that prosecutors had filed a new indictment of  Selahattin Demirtaş, which calls for a sentence of up to five years in prison on charges of terrorism for a Tweet posted in November 2013 (April 2, 2022, Bianet).
• In April 2022, it was reported that a regional appeals court in Ankara had overturned Selahattin Demirtaş's two and a half year prison sentence for charges of "threatening and targeting a public official who was part of the fight against terrorism" for his remarks during his trial (April 25, 2022, Turkish Minute).
• During Eid al-Fitr in May 2022, Demirtaş's wife was allowed to visit him for the first time in nearly six months (May 3, 2022, Rudaw).
• On May 9, 2022, Selahattin Demirtaş published an op-ed on Turkish news website T24, which called on the people of Turkey to continue to push for a free and fair election, and to be sympathetic towards Syrian refugees in the country (May 9, 2022, Medya News).
• A letter written by Demirtaş was circulated by his wife among Turkish journalists and activists at his request, and was published on social media on May 12, 2022. The letter called on the people of Turkey to continue to fight for democracy and for the establishment of mechanisms to protect democracy in Turkey (May 13, 2022, Bianet).
• On May 24, 2022, Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project, ARTICLE 19, Human Rights Watch, the International Commission of Jurists, and the International Federation for Human Rights sent a joint submission to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe calling for them to continue to push for Selahattin Demirtaş (June 7, 2022, Human Rights Watch).
• On June 15, 2022 a pregnant woman and her child were detained in Turkey for wearing T-shirts with a picture of Selahattin Demirtaş. An additional six people were arrested protesting the arrest (June 16, 2022, Stockholm Center for Freedom).
• At the 210th Session of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Governing Council, the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians adopted a decision expressing concern over the state of human rights in Turkey and the persecution of opposition parliamentarians in the country, including Selahattin Demirtaş (October 15, 2022, Inter-Parliamentary Union).
• DAD, a novel by Selahattin Demirtaş, was released on February 10, 2023; his fifth book written while in prison. The title means "justice" in Kurdish (February 1, 2023, Duvar).
• In March 2023, Halk TV, a Turkish television network, was fined and had programming suspeneded by Turkey's Radio and Television Supreme Council for airing a segment promoting the newly released novel by Selahattin Demirtaş, DAD, on the grounds that the segment was "praising a terrorist". In April 2023, it was reported that a court in Ankara had issued an injunction against the fine and suspension (April 14, 2023, Turkish Minute).
• On April 14, 2023, the prosecutor for the Kobane trial asked the court to sentence 36 defendants in the case, including Selahattin Demirtaş, to at least one life sentence without parole each (April 15, 2023, Medya News).
• On May 1, 2023, it was reported that President Erdoğan had stated that he would never release Selahattin Demirtaş as long as he is in power (May 1, 2023, Turkish Minute).
• On May 31, 2023, Selahattin Demirtaş announced that he would be retiring from "active politics" following the 2023 Turkish elections (June 1, 2023, Reuters).
• On June 7, 2023, the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers adopted a decision calling for the immediate release of Selahattin Demirtaş (June 7, 2023, Council of Europe).
• In July 2023, an Ankara court denied Selahattin Demirtaş's petition for release on the grounds that is a “risk of him fleeing and committing crime,” and stated that the ongoing case against him was unrelated to the case for which the European Court of Human Rights had ordered his release (July, 5, 2023, Duvar).
• On July 5, 2023, it was reported that defendants in the Kobani trial, including Selahattin Demirtaş, were to be given less than one month to prepare their defense against an indictment that spanned more than 5,000 pages (July 5, 2023, Turkish Minute).
• During a Kobani trial hearing held on August 8, 2023, Selahattin Demirtaş refuted the court's claims that he and the other defendants had intentionally been stalling the trial's hearings, stating that the court had been denying their requests (August 8, 2023, Medya News).
• In August 2023, Selahattin Demirtaş's lawyer, Mahsuni Karaman, warned that Demirtaş and others in the Kobani trial may be facing "at least seven aggravated life sentences" for a Tweet posted in October 2014 (August, 9, 2023, Medya News).
• The European Parliament's "2022 Commission Report on Türkiye" was adopted on September 13, 2023 and reiterated the parliament's requests for Turkey's compliance with the European Court of Human Rights' orders to release Selahattin Demirtaş and others (September 13, 2023, European Parliament). Following the adoption of the report, President Erdoğan publicly discussed cutting ties with the European Union during a speech given in Turkey before his departure to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York City (September 17, 2023, Medya News).
• On September 18, 2023, President Erdoğan of Turkey participated in an exclusive interview with PBS while in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. During the interview, he denied any involvement in the sentencing of Selahattin Demirtaş and other opposition figures, and expressed outrage when pressed on the issue (September 18, 2023, PBS).
• On September 21, 2023, the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers issued an interim resolution reiterating Turkey's obligation to comply with the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and to release Selahattin Demirtaş and other detainees whose release has been ordered by the court (September 21, 2023, Council of Europe).
• In an October 2023 Medya News article which highlighted Selahattin Demirtaş's case, it was noted that his active social media presence maintained through his lawyers had come to a halt after announcing his withdrawl from active politics following the 2023 Turkish elections. As of the date of the article's publication, his Twitter account had not been updated since the announcement was posted on May 31, 2023 (October 10, 2023, Medya News).
• The Kobani trial concluded on May 16, 2024, while some defendants were acquitted and some received sentences would allow them to be released due to time served, many received excessive, lengthy sentences or were otherwise not permitted to be released. Selahattin Demirtaş received the longest sentence of the group with a combined 42 year prison sentence. Over 100 people had been charged in the case, though only 36 were able to be tried (May 16, 2024, Human Rights Watch).
  Demirtaş' sentence includes the following:
  • 20 years for "undermining the unity and integrity of the state." Four years and six months for "inciting an offense." Two speeches delivered in 2016 resulted in a two-year and six-month sentence and a one-year and six-month sentence, respectively, on charges including "inciting people to disobey the law.” He also received multiple sentences on charges such as "making terrorist propaganda." This results in a combined sentence of 42 years in prison (May 16, 2024, Medya; Bianet).