Selahattin Demirtas gets 17 more months in jail over Erdogan insult

ISTANBUL,— Jailed Kurdish leader Selahattin Demirtas, whose release has been ordered by the European Court of Human Rights, was sentenced to additional prison time on Tuesday for insulting Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his lawyer said.

Demirtas, 52, a former prominent and charismatic leader of Turkey’s Kurdish movement, has been imprisoned since 2016.

He faced multiple “terrorism-related” charges that his supporters and international human rights groups have criticized as politically motivated.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has repeatedly demanded his release, most recently issuing a binding ruling in November. Turkey has so far not complied with the order.

The new verdict adds one year, five months, and 15 days to Demirtas’ sentence, according to his lawyer, Ozgur Ozbek. The case combined several older charges of insulting President Erdogan stemming from speeches Demirtas made over a decade ago.

Ozbek said the court denied his legal team more time to prepare and issued a ruling quickly.

“The court acted rapidly because of concerns about the statute of limitations. Deciding the case before it is fully completed is not legally correct,” Ozbek said, adding that he intends to appeal the decision.

Demirtas was not present at the hearing after a judge rejected his request to attend on security grounds, BirGun newspaper reported.

This is not Demirtas’ first conviction for insulting the president. In 2021, he was sentenced to three and a half years in prison over criticism of the government’s handling of the 2015 downing of a Russian military jet near the Syrian border.

Demirtas remains a key figure in Turkey’s Kurdish political movement. Despite years behind bars, he continues to draw loyalty among Kurds and international attention.

Western governments and human rights organizations regard him as a political prisoner who was jailed after briefly helping to challenge Erdogan’s grip on parliament and advocate for minority rights.

Observers say the ruling highlights ongoing tensions between Turkey’s judicial system and European human rights authorities, and the case is likely to remain a point of diplomatic and domestic debate in the months ahead.

(With files from AFP)