Turkey Pressed to Release ‘Political Prisoners’ or Face CoE Sanctions

The Palais de l'Europe Photo: Council of Europe

It reiterated that Kavala and Demirtas had not been released from prison in Turkey despite European Court of Human Rights ECtHR judgments, demanding this.

The Committee gave Turkey a final deadline before imposing any sanctions, which could include losing CoE voting rights.

"The Committee, in the light of the ECtHR Grand Chamber ruling, gave time to the government until June 22 to present an action plan. Even though the government did not request additional time, it has given time the government until September 30, as it has not presented the plan," it said.

"The Committee … has once again requested that Demirtaş be released and his conviction be overturned. It has noted that the prison term of four years, eight months, on charges of [terrorist] propaganda aimed to keep Demirtaş in prison and prevent his participation in [an] election," Benan Molu, his lawyer, said on Twitter after the decision.

Regarding Kavala, the Committee said: "Infringement proceedings [against Turkey] were expected to be triggered at this session; however, the Committee of Ministers has decided to wait for Kavala's release until its session in December."

The next Committee of Ministers meeting will be held on November 30-December 2.

Kavala was a former board member of Open Society Foundations in Turkey. He has been in prison for nearly four years on charges related to alleged involvement in the failed coup attempt in Turkey in 2016 and the 2013 Gezi Park protests in Istanbul.

A popular Kurdish politician, Demirtas was sent to prison in November 2016 after being found guilty of several terrorism charges.

Turkish opposition, human rights groups and the European Union criticized the arrests...

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