Supreme court orders release of Kurd held for deportation

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the immediate release of a Turkish national of Kurdish origin who had been held in detention since March of last year for deportation purposes, ruling that his 11-month detention was “prolonged, unjustified and without any realistic prospect of removal”.

In its decision, the court ruled that the length of detention, combined with the authorities’ actions, rendered the continued deprivation of liberty ‘unlawful’.

The applicant had been detained pending deportation, while his application for international protection was rejected on October 31, 2025.

He subsequently filed an appeal with the administrative court of international protection on December 9, with instructions scheduled for May 22, 2026.

The court recorded that the applicant believed his continued detention had become “illegal, unjustified, and abusive”.

It rejected arguments by attorney-general Georgios Savvides that the court lacked jurisdiction due to the pending appeal, stressing that it could determine whether detention had become unlawful regardless of parallel administrative proceedings.

“The applicant is not requesting that his detention or deportation orders be declared null and void,” the decision states.

“His complaint is that the length of his detention, together with the general actions of the administration, renders his detention illegal.”

The court accepted the applicant’s position that deportation to Turkey was “in practice extremely difficult, if not impossible”, citing his individual circumstances, unresolved administrative and diplomatic arrangements, as well as the absence of travel documents.

Although the authorities claimed they continued efforts to persuade the applicant to consent to deportation, the court was unequivocal.

“The fact that the applicant is not convinced to consent to his deportation does not justify his further detention,” it stressed.

“Nor does he certainly have an obligation to be convinced.”

Judges remarked that an 11-month period of detention “is not negligible”, especially where “no attempt was made to deport him, nor was the ground prepared for such action, since no attempt was made to secure travel documents”.

The court also took into account Savvides’ own position that deportation was not possible until the applicant’s appeal is heard in May.

“At this stage there is no question of the applicant’s deportation, at best not even for the next few months,” it ruled, adding that the applicant could not be held responsible for the time required to adjudicate his appeal.

Referring to Article 30 of the constitution, the court underlined the obligation to resolve disputes within a reasonable time and concluded that continued detention could not be justified.

The application was approved in full, and the competent authorities were ordered “to immediately release” the applicant.