An Ankara high criminal court has rejected a prosecutor’s appeal against last Monday’s ruling to release jailed Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş, whose lawyers are now considering applying for parole for a prior conviction that prevented him from leaving prison, the Gazete Duvar news website reported on Tuesday.
Demirtaş is expected to meet with his lawyers to discuss the details of the parole application, which is reportedly possible since he has been in jail for more than three years.
Last Monday judges unanimously decided in favor of his release despite a demand by the prosecutor for the continuation of his detention. However, he was not allowed to leave prison due to a sentence of four years, eight months previously handed down to him for disseminating terrorist propaganda.
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.
On Sept. 18 the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) will hear a case against Turkey upon the application of Demirtaş’s lawyers.
