Ankara court rejects merging of file on jailed HDP co-chair Demirtaş

ANKARA

An Ankara regional court has sent a file on jailed Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş back to the Ankara 2nd High Criminal Court on the grounds that it was not prepared in accordance with necessary procedures, Doğan News Agency reported on Aug. 30. 

The file concerned a disagreement between the Ankara 2nd High Criminal Court and the Ankara 19th Criminal Court.

The Ankara 19th Criminal Court had requested to merge Demirtaş’s case file, in which he is accused of “establishing and leading a terrorist organization,” “making terrorist propaganda,” and “praising crime and criminals” with another case file at the 2nd court in which the killing of 15-year-old Yasin Börü and three others are under investigation. 

The 19th court had demanded that Demirtaş be made to account for the killing of Börü and three people in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır between Oct. 6 and 8, 2014 by merging the files. However, the 2nd court rejected the merger, which meant that the issue was taken to a higher court, the Ankara Regional Court of Justice. 

The Ankara Regional Court of Justice is reported to have sent the 2nd court’s application back, saying the application file contained signatures of the court members whereas it should only have included the signature of the chief judge. 
 
Demirtaş’s lawyer Avukat Karaman has condemned the limbo regarding the case. “A trial date cannot even be given as there is no court to try my client,” he said.

Karaman also said that because Demirtaş’s file cannot be processed, examination of the co-chair’s continued pre-trial detention, which is required once every month, has not been carried out for two months. 

“Demirtaş has been in prison for more than two months without any court’s arrest warrant,” he added. 

The HDP co-chair has been in jail in the northwestern province of Edirne since Nov. 4, 2016.