The ruling of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on the arrest of former HDP co-chair Figen Yüksekdağ and twelve other former HDP MPs in Turkey is final. The Grand Chamber of the Court rejected the Turkish government’s appeal against the ruling and refused to hear an appeal.
Last November, the ECtHR ruled that the detention of Yüksekdağ and her colleagues in 2016 violated fundamental rights such as freedom of expression and the right to vote and stand for election. As in the case of Selahattin Demirtaş, the Strasbourg-based court ruled that their arrest was politically motivated and violated Article 18 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The ECtHR also ordered Turkey to pay 184,600 euros in compensation.
The case against Turkey before the ECtHR was brought by Figen Yüksekdağ, and by Idris Baluken, Besime Konca, Abdullah Zeydan, Nihat Akdoğan, Selma Irmak, Ferhat Encü, Gülser Yıldırım, Nursel Aydoğan, Çağlar Demirel, Burcu Çelik, Leyla Birlik and Ayhan Bilgen, who resigned from the HDP after his arrest.
The mass arrests of leading members of the HDP ordered by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on 4 November 2016 marked the beginning of a phase of repression that continues to this day, aimed at rendering the second largest opposition party in Turkey incapable of acting. In addition to numerous members of parliament, countless people with leadership responsibilities at the local level were also put behind bars. In this context, the HDP speaks of a political coup.
Source : ANF News
