Citing freedom of expression, a Turkish court rejected a criminal complaint filed by former Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş on Thursday, over the public display of ultra-nationalist banners that labelled him a terrorist.
Ultra-nationalist Grey Wolves in the Tokat province of Turkey displayed the banners in various parts of the city.
Following the incident, the jailed Kurdish politician filed a criminal complaint on the grounds of “insulting and inciting the public to hatred and enmity”.
However, his complaint was rejected by prosecutors citing European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) provisions on freedom of expression. The court also stressed that politicians must show a broad tolerance for, what they called, “criticism”.
Demirtaş was arrested in 2016 over terrorism charges that included speeches he gave as part of his duties as a member of parliament and co-chair of the HDP, the second-largest opposition bloc in the country, that were deemed to be “terrorist propaganda”.
The Grey Wolves are described as an international fascist, Turkish nationalist movement which rose to prominence in the late 1970s in Turkey. The group is linked to Turkey’s far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which is in alliance with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
