BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) Co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Gültan Kışanak reacted to the decision of the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court to reject the applications for the release of five BDP MPs , saying: "This is a political decision that completely ignores the will of the people and the right to carry out democratic politics. It will not serve the resolution process and has the potential to block it. We call on the government to take action and behave honestly."

In a written statement issued on Monday, Demirtaş and Kışanak they emphasised that there was no doubt that the judgment of the Constitutional Court for the release of Mustafa Balbay was binding, adding: "This judgment requires the release of all those who were elected. Government and judicial bodies must comply unconditionally with this judgment. Our members of parliament in prison Mr Hatip Dicle, Mr İbrahim Ayhan, Ms Selma Irmak, Mr Faysal Sarıyıldız, Mr Kemal Aktaş and Ms Gülser Yıldırım have not been convicted of any offence. Their trials are continuing. Accusations against them relate to their political activity."

"But despite this our MPs have been held in prison for years as hostages, just like the other politicians. Prolonged pre-trial detention is a form of extra judicial punishment. Even if they are convicted they will have long before served their sentences. While the judgment of the Constitutional Court should be implemented, unfortunately the Diyarbakır no. 5 Serious Criminal Court has rejected the applications for the release of İbrahim Ayhan and Gülser Yıldırım. This is a judicial scandal and a blatant example of double standards. Justice in Diyarbakır functions in a different way to Istanbul. This refusal to release our MPs is an attempt to block the channels of democratic politics, and is a blatant denial of the democratic will of hundreds of thousands of people."    

BDP co-chair pointed out that the government cannot continue to claim this is 'the business of the judiciary', as it was the government that took the political decision to put close to 10,000 of party activists in prison. "This government introduced the laws on prolonged pre-trial detention and this government appointed the judges and prosecutors. It is therefore the AKP government's responsibility", the statement underlined.

Demirtaş and Kışanak underlined that this judicial scandal and double standard must end, and called on the court to review its decision and comply with the judgment of the Constitutional Court. "All our MPs and all our other political activists should be released immediately. This practice of taking political hostages must be abandoned", it added.

BDP co-chairs warned that "everyone should be aware that we will find it very difficult to maintain the process under these circumstances. We will not remain silent and will step up the struggle in both the judicial and democratic spheres. Our people will respond in the best way to this denial of their will in public squares."