Constitutional Court rejects HDP MP Gülser Yıldırım’s release request

ANKARA

The Constitutional Court has ruled against releasing jailed Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Gülser Yıldırım, criticizing allegations that she was “unlawfully” arrested.

Yıldırım was arrested on two separate charges on Nov. 4, 2016 and is currently being held in a prison in the western province of Kocaeli. A court in the eastern province of Mardin ruled on Nov. 15 to release her in connection to the charge of “inciting a crime,” but because she is also accused of “establishing a terror organization and managing it” in another ongoing case, Yıldırım remains imprisoned.

The Constitution Court rejected her application for release on Nov. 16, ruling that alleged violations of her “freedom of speech and freedom to be elected and conduct political activities,” as well as a “restriction on access to the investigation file,” are “manifestly unfounded.”

The Court also stated that the allegation of “unlawful arrest and detention” is “unacceptable.”

In her application, Yıldırım said the “measures of capture, detention, and arrest” are “unlawful,” claiming herself a victim of “a violation of rights to personal liberty and safety due to a restriction on the investigation file.”

Nine HDP lawmakers, including party co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş, are currently in jail, and a total of 27 MPs have been detained and released since Nov. 4, 2016, over alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).