Selahattin DEMIRTAŞ
On 16 May 2024, the Ankara 22nd Heavy Penal Court found writer and former co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), Selahattin Demirtaş, guilty of ‘aiding in undermining the unity and integrity of the state’, ‘incitement to commit a crime’ and ‘making terrorist propaganda’, sentencing him to a combined total of 42 years in prison. The trial, which started in April 2021 and involved 108 HDP members, was part of a probe into deadly protests across Türkiye from 6 to 8 October 2014, which began over accusations that the Turkish army stood by as Islamic State militants besieged the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane. It is widely seen as politically motivated, with the HDP facing a potential ban in a separate case. Many senior HDP figures were convicted of offences including homicide and harming the unity of the Turkish state. Some of the defendants were acquitted. The HDP denied all charges.
Demirtaş was arrested on 4 November 2016, alongside several HDP MPs, on charges of being a leading member of a terrorist organisation and inciting public hatred and hostility. The Turkish authorities failed to implement a December 2020 ruling by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights, which ordered Demirtaş’ immediate release.
Demirtaş has faced numerous previous prosecutions. In a separate case, on 7 September 2018, Demirtaş was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison for allegedly carrying out terrorist propaganda during a speech he had given in 2013. Shortly before the Grand Chamber hearing, Demirtaş’ release from pre-trial detention was ordered, but he remained in prison due to this separate case. His sentence was upheld by the Court of Cassation on 26 April 2021 and became final that day. In March 2021, Demirtaş was further sentenced to three years and six months in prison for ‘insulting’ President Erdoğan. His sentence was upheld on appeal in February 2022.
Politician and author Selahattin Demirtaş, born on 10 April 1973, wrote a collection of short stories while in prison entitled Seher (Dawn) (2017), which instantly became a bestseller and was translated into scores of languages, notably being awarded a PEN Translates award in 2018 by English PEN. He later wrote Devran in 2019. His latest book, co-written with Yiğit Bener, Arafta Düet (Duet in Purgatory) was published in 2024.
