Turkey violated HDP MP's right to freedom of expression, top Europe rights court rules

Duvar English 

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that Turkey violated the right to freedom of expression of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Filiz Kerestecioğlu by stripping her of her parliamentary immunity in 2016. 

The court said that Turkey violated Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and ordered Turkey to pay Kerestecioğlu 5,000 euros in respect of non-pecuniary damages and 4,000 euros in respect of costs and expenses.

Kerestecioğlu in 2016 took her case to the ECHR, saying that the decision to strip her of her immunity through the constitutional amendment of May 20, 2016 was based on her political opinions. 

In its ruling, the court referred to its previous case-law regarding imprisoned former HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş, in which it said that the constitutional amendment of 2016 sought to restrict the political speech of parliamentarians.

"I thank my lawyers Ayşe Akkaya, Gülşah Kaya and Ayşe Bingöl. Fortunately, there are female lawyers. Fortunately, there is a solidarity that makes our efforts visible," Kerestecioğlu said on Twitter after the ruling. 

In a separate ruling, the court said that Turkey violated journalist Banu Güven's freedom of expression in the case that she filed over a ban on reporting a commission's works. 

A parliamentary commission was set up after the December 2013 graft probes in Turkey to look into bribe allegations against four ministers, but reporting it was banned. Güven took the ban to the ECHR, which ruled that Turkey violated Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

"Press freedom won!" Güven said on Twitter on May 4. 

The court, however, deemed the applications of two academics, Yaman Akdeniz and Kerem Altıparmak, on the same issue inadmissible.