European Court of Human Rights slams Ankara over jailed opposition leader

The European Court of Justice urges Turkey to release as soon as possible the Kurdish leader, the leader of the Democratic People's Party, who has been in prison since November 2016.

The Strasbourg Court admits that if 45-year-old Demirtaş was arrested for 'legitimate reasons' because the Turkish authorities considered him a suspect of a criminal offense, the reasons given by the Turkish authorities to justify the length of his detention are not 'Sufficient'.

"His temporary detention is an unlawful violation of the people's freedom of expression and the right of the applicant to be elected and to exercise his parliamentary mandate," the judges of the Strasbourg Court, where Celahatin Demirtes sought justice, opined.

Selahattin Demirtaş has been incarcerated since November 2016 with charges of "terrorist" activities and is accused in a series of indictments. If convicted on the basis of the main indictment, he is threatened with a prison sentence of 142 years. This did not prevent him from securing 8.4 per cent of the votes in the June 24th elections.