Error occured during this request! Please try again later.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A Turkish appeals court on Friday upheld a lengthy prison sentence of more than 22 years for a prominent Kurdish politician over alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a pro-Kurdish news outlet reported.
Leyla Guven, a former lawmaker for the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), was stripped of her parliamentary membership in June 2020 and later sentenced to 22 years and three months in jail for allegedly being a member of the PKK and propagating for the group.
She had appealed to the Regional Court of Justice on the grounds that her sentence was unfair, demanding a reversal of the ruling. However, the court rejected her application, upholding the local court’s decision, according to Mezopotamya News Agency.
Guven,57,can appeal the ruling by filing an appeal with the Court of Cassation, according to the pro-Kurdish news outlet.
She launched a 200-day hunger strike in 2018 in a bid to end jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan's isolation by securing him access to his family and lawyers. She is also the co-chair of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) - an umbrella group which consists of lawyers, civil society organisations, political parties and human rights activists.
The PKK is an armed group fighting for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. It is considered a terrorist organisation by Ankara. Some Turkish officials claim that HDP and its sister groups like DTP have links with the PKK, leading to a crackdown which has put thousands of members and officials behind bars.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment