Istanbul, June 5, (dpa/GNA) – The Turkish opposition has demanded the immediate release of a human rights lawyer, who was elected as a deputy in the recent parliamentary election.
It is “unlawful” to detain an elected parliamentarian, opposition leader Kemal Kiliçdaroglu wrote on Monday on Twitter. This was equivalent to “arresting the voters,” he said.
Kiliçdaroglu lost his bid to become president against incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during the run-off presidential elections on May 28.
Lawmaker Can Atalay was elected to the National Assembly for the Turkish Workers’ Party in the May 14 parliamentary elections.
He was sentenced to 18 years in prison last year in connection with the anti-government Gezi protests in 2013.
Atalay was put on trial along with businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala, in a process criticized as politically motivated.
Because the sentence is not yet final, his lawyers applied for his release.
Kiliçdaroglu accused the judiciary of not implementing the request out of fear of President Erdogan.
Atalay was unable to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the new parliamentarians on Friday.
His lawyer Bülent Akbay told dpa that his client should be released, “when there is still a fraction of democracy and the rule of law.”
GNA