Kurdish leader calls on international committee to be present in trial

09-12-2018 10:37

 

By Renwar Najim

 

In a letter he wrote from prison, the pro-Kurdish leader Selahettin Demirtas calls on the international community to be present while he is being tried this week.

 

"I send you this letter from a high-security prison, which I've been illegally detained in for two years," the former co-chairman of the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party, also known as HDP in Turkey, wrote to French Le Monde

 

Turkish authorities have detained five of his comrades, including 58 mayors, and nine lawmakers.

 

The reason for their arrest, he claims, is that they stand against the autocratic turn that the country is experiencing.

 

Next week, another session of his trial start, where Demirtas goes in front of a judge to give a statement. He calls on the international community and the French Le Monde paper to be present, "I appreciate you sending my message."

 

He claims to be persecuted due to free expression, and struggle against the violations they are facing for their Kurdish identity, and freedom and democracy, "Thus, I trust you'd work to deliver my message to the international community," he adds, "The issue is the matter of life and death."

 

Demirtas, 45, has been a prison for two years, accused of having a connection to the illegal armed Kurdish rebel group of the Kurdistan Workers Party, also known as PKK. Turkey considers PKK to be a terrorist group and calls for a 142-year sentence, while he rejects such accusations and believes them to be politically motivated.

 

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) called on Turkey to release Demirtas on 20 November 2018, claiming his trial was "an attempt to silence different voices".

 

Turkey is bound to be compliant with the decision but rejected it.

 

ECHR was established in 1950. All the 47 members-countries of the "Council of Europe", including Turkey, are members of the court.

 

Turkish seat in the court has been vacant for more than a year, due to a row emerging from another political issue related to the Turkish dissident Fethullah Gulen.

 

Ankara forwarded the list of 10 judges to be assigned to the court; all rejected later. Since April 2017, Turkish seat has remained vacant.

 

Turkish Yeni Sefek newspaper claimed the judges were explicitly asked if the Gulen Organization is a terrorist group, and when they responded by yes, they were rejected. The members of the court should stay non-partisan in the political issues of their countries.

 

Turkish president Erdogan said the court's decision was not mandatory for them, and they would not commit to it. Turkey has been accused of human rights violations in the past and charged with punitive measures.

 

Lack of compliance might damage the relationship between the European Union and Turkey, as the issue of incarcerating journalists, politicians and activists have stood against the Turkish bid to be a member of the European Union.