The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on Tuesday announced that it would adjudicate an appeal lodged by Turkey to a previous ruling in the case of jailed Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş, Deutsche Welle (DW) Turkish service reported.
The court had ruled in November that Demirtaş’s pre-trial detention had gone on longer than could be justified.
“The Court found that the judicial authorities had extended Mr Demirtaş’ detention on grounds that could not be regarded as ‘sufficient’ to justify its duration,” the Strasbourg-based ECtHR said in a statement on Nov. 20.
The ECtHR ruled that Ankara “was to take all necessary measures to put an end to the applicant’s pre-trial detention.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had responded to the decision, saying that the European court’s rulings did not bind Turkey.
After Erdoğan’s remarks, local courts rejected several applications for Demirtaş’s release filed by his lawyers.
According to the DW report, the appeal can take 12 to 18 months, and the ruling will be final.
Demirtaş, the former co-chair of the Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), was detained on charges of terrorism in November 2016 along with Figen Yüksekdağ, the other co-chair of the party.