ANKARA – The conditional release of Mervan Demirtas, who has been imprisoned for 31 years, was blocked based on a disciplinary penalty tied to a protest that never occurred. 

 

Demirtaş, currently held in Antalya High-Security Closed Prison, became eligible for conditional release on March 8, 2024. However, prison authorities blocked his release, citing several disciplinary sanctions, including accusations of “chanting slogans” and “banging on the door.”

 

One of the most controversial justifications was a punishment based on an announced protest that was never carried out.

 

According to reports, Demirtas and a group of prisoners submitted a written notice to prison officials stating they would boycott scheduled non-contact visits. Despite this, the protest was later called off, and the visits took place as planned. Nevertheless, the prisoners were still punished based solely on their initial notification, and this disciplinary measure was used to block Demirtaş’s release.

 

Zeynep Oduncu Kutevi, a member of Parliament for the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party representing Batman (Êlih), submitted a parliamentary inquiry to Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç also filed a request with the Human Rights Inquiry Commission (İHİK) regarding the case.

 

In the documents she submitted, Zeynep Oduncu Kutevi asked for the reasons why the release of prisoners was delayed on arbitrary grounds and demanded that the violations be reported and analysed.