MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES

Decisions

CM/Del/Dec(2023)1468/H46-33

7 June 2023

1468^th meeting, 5-7 June 2023 (DH)

H46-33 Selahattin Demirtaş (No. 2) group v. Turkey (Application No. 14305/17)

Supervision of the execution of the European Court’s judgments

Reference document

CM/Notes/1468/H46-33

Decisions

The Deputies

1. recalled that in the Selahattin Demirtaş (No. 2) case the Court found that the applicant was detained in the absence of evidence to support a reasonable suspicion he had committed an offence (violation of Article 5, §§ 1 and 3) and that his arrest and pre-trial detention pursued an ulterior purpose (violation of Article 18 taken in conjunction with Article 5); that the lifting of the applicant’s parliamentary immunity and the way the criminal law was applied to penalise him for political speeches were not foreseeable and prescribed by law (Article 10) and that his consequent detention made it effectively impossible for him to take part in the activities of the National Assembly (Article 3 of Protocol No. 1); further recalled that in the Yüksekdağ Şenoğlu and others case the Court’s conclusions in the Selahattin Demirtaş (No. 2) judgment were also applicable, in addition to a violation of the right to a speedy decision on the lawfulness of detention on account of lack of access to the investigation file (Article 5 § 4);

As regards individual measures

Selahattin Demirtaş (No. 2) case

2. expressed their deepest regret that the Constitutional Court has still not delivered its decision on the applicant’s current detention and the 22^nd Assize Court has not considered alternative measures to detention and that the applicant therefore remains in detention despite the Committee’s previous calls and the interim resolution adopted to that effect at the March DH meeting;

3. in view of the Court’s finding under Article 18 that the applicant’s detention pursued the ulterior purpose of stifling pluralism and limiting freedom of political debate, urged the authorities to ensure the applicant’s immediate release by exploring alternative measures to detention pending the completion of the proceedings before the Constitutional Court; furthermore decided to consider further steps if the situation of the applicant remains the same by the Committee’s next examination of the case;

Yüksekdağ Şenoğlu and Others case

4. in view of the urgency of the individual measures required for Figen Yüksekdağ Şenoğlu who is the only applicant still detained in this case, urged the authorities to ensure her immediate release;

5. decided to resume consideration of both cases at their 1475^th meeting (September 2023) (DH).