Release of former DEP deputies

The four, Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, Orhan Dogan and Selim Sadak, were all members of the now banned pro-Kurdish Democracy Party (DEP). In 1994, they had their immunity from prosecutioin removed by a vote of parliament and were charged with aiding and abetting a terrorist organisation, the PKK.
The decision, based on the fact that the four had served two thirds of their 15 year sentences, is to be forwarded to the office of the Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals, who in turn will request the Ankara’s Prosecutors Office to fulfil the requirements of the decision.
Last month, the Ankara State Security Court (DGM), in a retrial brought on by a ruling of the European Court of Human Rights that the four had not received a fair hearing at their initial trial, upheld the original sentences handed down to Zana, Dogan, Dicle and Sadak in 1994.
However, the ruling does not mean that the four are to be immediately freed. Instead, the Supreme Court of Appeals Criminal Department is to hear an appeal against the convictions, with the case being heard on July 8.