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European Court of Human Rights Pressures Turkey to Release Demirtaş

Selahattin Demirtas, leader of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, during an interview with Reuters in Ankara, July 30, 2015. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Selahattin Demirtas, leader of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, during an interview with Reuters in Ankara, July 30, 2015. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
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European Court of Human Rights Pressures Turkey to Release Demirtaş

Selahattin Demirtas, leader of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, during an interview with Reuters in Ankara, July 30, 2015. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Selahattin Demirtas, leader of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, during an interview with Reuters in Ankara, July 30, 2015. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) continues to call on Turkey to release Selahattin Demirtaş.

The court, which previously ruled for Demirtaş's immediate release, asked whether the imprisonment is based on reasonable doubt, grounds and time, as well as whether it violates the right to freedom of expression.

In other questions, the rights court asked Turkey whether his arrest was politically motivated and whether Article 18 of the European Convention of Human Rights was violated through his arrest.

The ECHR also questioned whether Turkey's top court is an effective legal means in Demirtaş's case.

Ramazan Demir, one of Demirtaş's lawyers, said that the defense request came due to the Constitutional Court's delay in issuing a ruling on Demirtaş's imprisonment.

"These questions are asked for the first time in this case and it's very significant," Demir tweeted on Feb. 1.

Another lawyer, Benan Molu, said that the ECHR asked whether Turkey's top court looked into the politician's appeal that was submitted on Nov. 7, 2019.

According to the ECHR's Grand Chamber, Demirtaş's pre-trial detention since Nov. 4, 2016 had sent "a dangerous message to the entire population" that sharply narrowed free democratic debate.

Demirtaş faces a sentence of up to 142 years in prison if convicted of being the leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) over his actions during the Kobane protests in 2014.

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White House's Sullivan: Weakened Iran Could Pursue Nuclear Weapon

FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
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White House's Sullivan: Weakened Iran Could Pursue Nuclear Weapon

FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo

The Biden administration is concerned that a weakened Iran could build a nuclear weapon, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday, adding that he was briefing President-elect Donald Trump's team on the risk.
Iran has suffered setbacks to its regional influence after Israel's assaults on its allies, Palestinian Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah, followed by the fall of Iran-aligned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities, including missile factories and air defenses, have reduced Tehran's conventional military capabilities, Sullivan told CNN.
"It's no wonder there are voices (in Iran) saying, 'Hey, maybe we need to go for a nuclear weapon right now ... Maybe we have to revisit our nuclear doctrine'," Sullivan said.
Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful, but it has expanded uranium enrichment since Trump, in his 2017-2021 presidential term, pulled out of a deal between Tehran and world powers that put restrictions on Iran's nuclear activity in exchange for sanctions relief.
Sullivan said that there was a risk that Iran might abandon its promise not to build nuclear weapons.
"It's a risk we are trying to be vigilant about now. It's a risk that I'm personally briefing the incoming team on," Sullivan said, adding that he had also consulted with US ally Israel.
Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, could return to his hardline Iran policy by stepping up sanctions on Iran's oil industry. Sullivan said Trump would have an opportunity to pursue diplomacy with Tehran, given Iran's "weakened state."
"Maybe he can come around this time, with the situation Iran finds itself in, and actually deliver a nuclear deal that curbs Iran's nuclear ambitions for the long term," he said.