(CN) - Kurdish politician Aysel Tuluk spent years in a Turkish prison accused of leading a terrorist group. But Europe's top human rights court ruled Tuesday that there was never solid evidence behind the charges, saying her detention was driven more by politics than by crime.

Tuluk, a former lawmaker and deputy chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, was arrested in December 2016 amid a sweeping crackdown on Kurdish politicians and activists accused of having ties to terrorism.

By then, she was already a well-known political figure in Turkey's Kurdish movement, serving as co-chair of the Democratic Society Congress, the DTK, a lawful platform that brought together community leaders, academics and activists to discuss democratic reform and women's rights.

The European Court of Human Rights dismissed Ankara's claims and ruled in Tuluk's favor. The judges said there was no evidence connecting Tuluk or the DTK to criminal activity, noting that during her time as co-chair, the group had even been invited by Turkey's parliament to share its views on constitutional reform.

"Such an invitation may be seen as an indication that, at the material time, the DTK was not regarded as an unlawful organization," the court wrote.

Her arrest came as Turkey ramped up its crackdown on Kurdish political movements after peace talks with the Kurdistan Workers' Party fell apart in 2015. The PKK - an armed group that battled for Kurdish autonomy since the 1980s - formally announced its dissolution and the end of its armed struggle in May, after more than four decades of insurgency. 

Prosecutors claimed the DTK was a "constituent assembly" of the PKK and argued that Tuluk's role as co-chair showed she was helping lead an armed group. They pointed to her speeches, appearances at conferences and an email said to have been sent by a PKK spokesperson as proof. Tuluk denied any link to violence, saying her account had been hacked and insisting the DTK's work was entirely lawful.

According to the judges, the case against her rested on flimsy evidence - unverified emails, attendance at peaceful gatherings and even everyday items like books and Kurdish-colored fabric - none of which, they said, pointed to any real criminal intent or justified keeping her in custody before trial.

The court also pointed out that Tuluk's mention of "democratic autonomy" came during a speech she gave as co-chair of the DTK, where she talked about possible paths to solving the Kurdish question. It said the phrase, a political idea calling for more self-rule for Kurdish regions within Turkey, reflected a political stance, not a crime. 

"They must be seen as political opinions expressed by the applicant, in her capacity as a politician, on the resolution of the Kurdish question," the court wrote, adding that her statements "do not contain any elements that incite violence or glorify terrorism."

The judges concluded Tuluk's detention had no real foundation, noting that nothing in the case file connected her actions to the crimes she was accused of. Keeping her behind bars without solid proof, they said, was arbitrary and violated her right to free expression because it stemmed from her political views, not any proven wrongdoing.

They also dismissed Turkey's claim that post-coup emergency powers justified her arrest, writing that "no derogating measure was applicable to the applicant's situation." The court added that her detention "pursued the ulterior purpose of stifling pluralism and limiting freedom of political debate."

Now 60, Tuluk was handed a 10-year prison sentence by a Turkish court in 2018 for membership in an armed group, a conviction still winding its way through appeal. She was released in 2022 on medical grounds after doctors said she was too ill to remain in prison.

The ruling mirrors past decisions from the European rights court on Kurdish opposition leaders like Selahattin Demirta and Figen Yksekda, where judges said Turkish courts blurred the line between political expression and terrorism.

Describing the decision as "the first judgment concerning the DTK, which Turkish authorities have long portrayed as linked to the PKK," international human rights scholar and former visiting scholar at the European Court of Human Rights Emre Turkut said the case marks an important shift in how Strasbourg views Turkey's crackdown on Kurdish politicians.

"Both the timing of the investigation and the decision to impose detention more than three years after Tuluk's political speeches clearly demonstrate an ulterior political purpose behind her detention," Turkut said.

He noted, "This is also the first finding of a politically motivated detention for a politician who was not a member of parliament," a sign, he said, that the court's scrutiny of politically driven prosecutions is widening beyond the country's most prominent lawmakers.

Even so, Turkut said, "There is little hope the Turkish authorities will implement the judgment," given Ankara's long record of ignoring previous European court rulings.

Turkey has long been under fire for its treatment of Kurdish politicians and activists. The Peoples' Democratic Party, whose mayors and lawmakers have been repeatedly jailed, is still fighting a potential ban before the country's top court. Rights groups and the European Parliament say such prosecutions have all but silenced democratic representation for Turkey's roughly 15 million Kurds.

Over the years, the conflict killed tens of thousands and displaced many more, leaving deep scars on both sides.

When the ceasefire with the PKK collapsed, fighting flared again in Turkey's southeast and across the Syrian border, where Kurdish militias gained ground. Ankara responded with sweeping security operations and tighter laws against what it called terrorism. 

After a failed coup in 2016, that definition broadened even further, ensnaring not only suspected PKK members but also journalists, mayors, teachers and lawmakers accused of showing sympathy for the group.

Lawyers for Tuluk and representatives of the Turkish government did not respond to requests for comment.

The Strasbourg judges ordered Turkey to pay Tuluk 16,000 euros (about $18,500) in damages and another 1,500 euros (about $1,730) to cover legal costs. The ruling will become final in three months unless Ankara seeks a review by the court's Grand Chamber, an unlikely step given its track record of defying such decisions.

Courthouse News reporter Eunseo Hong is based in the Netherlands.

Source: Courthouse News Service