ANKARA - The European top court has ruled for the immediate release of the politician.

 

Attorneys of Selahattin Demirtaş have applied for his release following a European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) decision concluding that his imprisonment was "political."

 

The former co-chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) is currently pre-trial detention in an investigation into the 2014 Kobanê protests, which claimed more than 50 lives.

 

Attorney Mahsun Karavan said on Twitter that they requested the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office not to prosecute the investigation and release Demirtaş as the ECtHR decision was "final and binding."

 

He wrote, "Demirtaş is arrested because of the October 6-8 [2014] incidents, which allegedly occured after two tweets posted by the HDP Central Executive Committee. The ECtHR has ruled that the tweets were 'a call for peaceful protests'. Demirtaş and arrested HDP members must be released and a decision of non-prosecution must be given."

 

Demirtaş has been in prison for "terrorism-related" charges since November 2016. The ECtHR also ruled for his release in November 2018 but his imprisonment continued because prosecutors arrested him in the investigation into the Kobanê protests days after the European court ruling.

 

The ECtHR Grand Chamber concluded yesterday (December 22) that his imprisonment was politically motivated, which caused the violation of Article 18 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)

 

Turkey also violated Freedom of expression (Article 10); the right to liberty and security (Articles 5/1 and 5/3); the lawfulness of detention and trial within reasonable time (Article 5/4) and right to elect and to be elected (Article 3/1), according to the judgment.