ANKARA, Turkey - Rezan Zugurli, Turkey’s youngest-ever mayor who was elected as the co-mayor of the Lice district of Diyarbakir from the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), has been sentenced to more than four years in prison for “crimes on behalf of” the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Zugurli, who is 25 and a student at Dicle University, was sentenced to four years and two months in jail for “committing crimes on behalf of the PKK without being a member of that organization,” according to the Turkish Penal Code.
During campaigning for the March 30 local polls, in which she received a record 91 percent of the votes, Zugurli said she had decided to engage in politics and join the elections “to test the veracity of the peace and resolution process.”
On the one hand, for more than a year the Turkish government has been engaged in a peace process with the PKK. On the other hand, there has been little let-up in the persecution suffered by Kurdish activists, or by PKK members or sympathizers.
Prosecutors first launched an investigation against Zugurli in 2012, demanding up to 35 years in prison for attending three demonstrations in 2010 and 2011. When she was arrested in a house raid in May 2012, she was a freshman at Dicle University, and working at the office of women and cultural affairs of the Baglar Municipality in Diyarbakir. The only breadwinner of her family, she was released after 13 months in jail.
Zugurli is not the first in her family to face court for pro-Kurdish activities. Ten members of her family, including her grandfather, uncles and cousins were reportedly killed by the state in their struggle for Kurdish rights.
Her father, Ihsan Tanrikulu, the former president of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) in Diyarbakir, was forced to leave Turkey after being sentenced to prison for membership in a “terrorist organization.”
Prosecutors also summoned Zugurli’s mother, Firuze, twice to court. Pictures of family members killed by the state, confiscated from her home, were shown as evidence of PKK propaganda to push prosecutors’ demands for a 20-month jail sentence.
Firuze Zugurli reportedly said that the family had been exposed to police persecution since moving to Diyarbakir in 1984. “The mental state of my children has been ruined. Rezan was arrested in our house before the eyes of my four-year-old son, so he has had serious psychological problems ever since,” she said.
Tahir Elci, president of the Diyarbakir Bar Association, told Rudaw that some laws of the Turkish penal code give way to such unjust decisions.
“The Turkish penal code harms the freedom of expression and of association in Turkey. Even those who join demonstrations, or issue press statements, are punished within the scope of this code,” he said.
“The specially authorized courts have been abolished but unjust decisions are still made by courts because undemocratic laws have not been changed,” he added.
“The current laws evaluate unarmed acts in the same category with armed ones. Even a peaceful sit-in or a press release can be considered an armed action according to the Turkish penal code. We have called on the government to change those laws in order to pave the way for liberties, but no step has been taken yet,” Elci said.
International watchdog Human Rights Watch reported that Turkey's Anti-Terrorism Law contains a vague and overbroad definition of terrorism.
"The use of terrorism laws to prosecute sitting mayors and other BDP officials is both troubling and all too familiar," said Benjamin Ward, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at HRW. "Without compelling evidence of violent activities, it's hard to see the prosecution's effort to link this legal party with an illegal organization as anything but a clampdown on legitimate political activity."
The Human Rights Joint Platform in Turkey also issued a report criticizing the anti-terror laws of Turkey. “Designating legal and peaceful press conferences, workshops and demonstrations as offences committed upon the instructions of illegal organizations runs counter to the principle of the rule of law,” it said.
Amnesty International, meanwhile, announced its concerns over Turkey’s anti-terrorism legislation and its application.
“The definition of terrorism in this law is overly broad, vague and lacks the level of legal certainty required by international human rights law,” it said. “Persons can be found guilty of membership of a terrorist organization without being a member of the organization if found to have committed a crime ‘in the name of such an organization,’” Amnesty said.
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