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An Ankara court today rejected an appeal by lawyers for a prominent pro-Kurdish politician against his stay in prison, the DPA reported, citing the Anatolian Agency. Last week, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered Turkey to release Selyahattin Demirtas, a former co-chair of the opposition People’s Democratic Party, saying his detention violated his rights.
However, the Ankara court ruled that Demirtas should remain behind bars, citing the lack of a Turkish translation of the ECHR ruling.
Demirtas has been in pretrial detention since November 2016 on various charges of terrorism. The Ankara court argued that it was still waiting for the Turkish Ministry of Justice to send the translation of the ECHR ruling, which was issued on Tuesday.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the ECHR’s decision as “hypocritical” and called Demirtas a “terrorist”. As Turkey is a member of the Council of Europe, the court’s decisions are legally binding.
Turkey
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