The Turkish government’s refusal to implement a release order for detained politician Gültan Kışanak, recently nominated as the pro-Kurdish opposition’s Ankara co-mayor, violates the right to elect and be elected and forms a manoeuvre in favour of the ruling party, Kışanak’s lawyer, Cihan Aydın, said.
Gültan Kışanak, a pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party candidate for the country’s capital city in the upcoming 31 March local elections, and former co-mayor of Diyarbakir (Amed), remains in custody at Kandıra F-Type Prison despite a release order.
Kışanak was arrested on 25 October 2016 along with co-mayor Fırat Anlı on charges of “membership in a terrorist organisation” and “making propaganda for a terrorist organisation”. Following their arrest, the Interior Ministry appointed unelected trustees to the municipality.
The Kurdish politician was handed a 14-year sentence after the Diyarbakir Chief Public Prosecutor’s investigation, though the sentence was later overturned by the Gaziantep Regional Court of Justice.
Kışanak had the right to release upon serving the maximum seven-year detention period, however she was issued a new arrest warrant when her case was merged with the Kobani (Kobanê) Case, a high-profile trail implicating a raft of pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) leaders and Kurdish politicians.
Her lawyer, Cihan Aydın, said the decision to keep Kışanak detained was “lawless”, a violation of the right to elect and be elected, and ultimately a manoeuvre to protect the current government’s interests.
The country’s top court, the AYM, had previously recognised similar violation cases in which terms exceeded the maximum detention period, Aydın pointed out.
Aydın also referenced the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECHR) ruling on the politically motivated detention of Selahattin Demirtaş, HDP’s former co-chair, and suggested that Kışanak’s situation mirrored his.
Condemning the government’s use of judicial mechanisms to suppress opposition, particularly Kurdish politic, Aydın stated that such actions not only undermined individual freedoms but also threatened democratic principles and the right to political organisation.
The lawyer warned that non-compliance with the AYM and ECHR rulings would lead to severe consequences for the Turkish judiciary, drawing parallels with the situation in Poland where the ECHR ruled against the independence and impartiality of the judiciary. Aydın suggested that Turkey may face similar judgments if it continues its current path, and pressed urgent judicial reform.
