Five BDP deputies may be released this week

ISTANBUL

The Diyarbakır Bar Association announces its application on the imprisoned BDP deputies. AA photo

Five jailed lawmakers who were elected from the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) are expected to be released this week.

The lawyers of the BDP deputies petitioned two Diyarbakır courts for the release of their clients soon after a Constitutional Court ruling that secured the release of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Mustafa Balbay on Dec. 9. Balbay was released on the grounds that his pre-trial detention violated his rights as a deputy.

Five BDP deputies, Selma Irmak from the southeastern Şırnak province, Faysal Sarıyıldı from Şırnak, İbrahim Ayhan from the southeastern Şanlıurfa province, Gülser Yıldırım from the southeastern Mardin province and Kemal Aktaş from the southeastern Van province, are being tried under arrest in the 5th and 6th High Criminal Courts in Diyarbakır.

It is expected that the top court’s ruling on Balbay could set a precedent for other jailed lawmakers, and their releases are expected this week.