Turkish Justice Ministry appeals ECHR ruling on Demirtaş |
Turkey’s Justice Ministry has formally lodged an appeal against a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decision that called for the release of Selahattin Demirtaş, the former co-leader of the pro-Kurdish party HDP, who has been imprisoned since 2016. The appeal, submitted one day before the ECHR’s ruling was due to become final, requests a retrial by the Court’s Grand Chamber.
The July 8, 2025, ruling found that Demirtaş’s detention breached his right to liberty and security and that some measures ordering his detention were politically motivated. The court said domestic courts had not considered less restrictive measures and that the 2019 detention order lacked sufficient legal justification. Turkey’s application for referral pauses the finalisation of the ruling while the court decides whether the case should be reheard by a 17-judge Grand Chamber.
Turkey’s Justice Ministry insists that the ECHR decision was “premature” and argues reconsideration is warranted. Domestic courts have echoed this stance, with an Ankara court rejecting multiple release applications on the basis that the ECHR judgment is not yet legally final. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has publicly said that foreign judgments do “not bind Turkey,” refusing to immediately implement rulings in similar cases such as that of Osman Kavala, whose case triggered an infringement procedure for the first time in the Council of Europe’s history.
Selahattin Demirtaş, HDP’s co-chair and the party’s 2014 presidential candidate, was first detained on 4 November 2016 after a request by the Diyarbakır prosecutor’s office. Turkish authorities charged him with........