An application for release from prison filed by lawyer Muhsin Bilal for his client Adnan Selçuk Mızraklı due to the risk of infection with the coronavirus has been rejected. The judges at the 9th Heavy Penal Court of Diyarbakir (Amed) argued that the health condition of the deposed mayor of the Kurdish metropolis Amed, who suffers from a chronic heart disease and thus belongs to the risk group for the novel lung disease Covid-19, is not sufficient for an early release from prison. At the same time, the judges referred the case to a higher court on the grounds of the court's lack of jurisdiction.

Doctor Adnan Selçuk Mızraklı was elected co-mayor to Amed on 31 March 2019, dismissed by the Turkish Ministry of the Interior on 19 August 2019 and arrested two months later. In March, he was sentenced to nine years and four and a half months imprisonment in a bogus trial for "membership of an armed terrorist organisation". The charges were based on the fabricated statements of key witness Hicran Berna Ayverdi, who appears in numerous trials against Kurdish politicians. Last week, another trial for "propaganda for a terrorist organization" was initiated against the politician.