The European Court of Human Rights ruled on 8 July that the renewed detention of former pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş in September 2019 was arbitrary and driven by political motives, not legitimate legal grounds. The Strasbourg-based court found that Turkish authorities re-used evidence from earlier investigations to silence a prominent opposition figure and curb democratic debate. By six votes to one, the judges said Turkey breached Articles 5/1(c), 5/3 and 5/4 of the European Convention on Human Rights, covering unlawful detention, excessive duration and lack of prompt judicial review, as well as Article 18, which bars misuse of restrictions for political ends. The court criticised the Turkish Constitutional Court for taking more than four years to examine Demirtaş’s individual application and ordered the state to pay him €35,000 in non-pecuniary damages and €20,000 for costs. This is the second time the ECtHR has found Turkey in violation over Demirtaş, who has been imprisoned since November 2016. Despite a previous 2020 Grand Chamber ruling calling for his release, Demirtaş remains behind bars following a 42-year sentence handed down in May 2024 over the 2014 Kobani protests, which he is appealing. His lawyers say the latest judgment makes his immediate release a legal requirement, but Ankara has so far ignored earlier calls from the Council of Europe to free him.