Burhan Sonmez, PEN International President, said its organization "utterly condemns" the "shocking sentencing of writer and honorary PEN member Selahattin Demirtaş to 42 years in prison"

Burhan Sonmez, PEN International President, added that Demirtaş "continues to languish behind bars despite the European Court of Human Rights ruling for his release makes a mockery of what is left of Turkey’s justice system. Demirtaş has already been unjustly detained for seven-and-a-half years, far away from his family and loved ones. This verdict is yet another tragedy for the rule of law in Türkiye. We will continue to stand alongside Demirtaş and all unfairly imprisoned writers until they are free."

PEN International said: "The authorities of Turkey should release writer, opposition politician and honorary PEN member Selahattin Demirtaş immediately and unconditionally."

Born on 10 April 1973, Selahattin Demirtaş wrote a collection of short stories while in prison entitled Seher (Dawn) (2017), which instantly became a best-seller and was translated into scores of languages, notably being awarded a PEN Translates award in 2018 by English PEN. His latest book Devran was published in 2019.