ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Turkish court on Friday gave imprisoned Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas an additional two years and six months in jail for allegedly insulting Turkish institutions, courts, and security forces and inciting violence.
Demirtas, who has been jailed since 2016 on terror-related charges, attended the trial in a court in Mersin through video conference from Edirne prison. The case related to speeches he made in 2015 and 2016 in which he was accused of “publicly insulting the government of the Republic of Turkey, judicial organs, the military and the security forces,” reported Bianet.
The Kurdish politician denied charges against him and labeled the trial “politically motivated.”
"If I were an ultra-nationalist politician who orchestrated killings in the heart of Ankara and threatened people, no case would be filed against me. Instead, you would protect me. If I were a fascist politician, the judiciary would protect me. But because I am a Kurdish politician exercising my right to criticize, I am prosecuted," Bianet quoted Demirtas as saying in his defense.
Demirtas is currently serving a 42-year sentence he was given in a separate trial in May. He was one of several Kurdish politicians convicted over 2014 protests related to the defense of Kobane city against the Islamic State (ISIS) in northeast Syria. Demirtas was the co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) when the nationwide demonstrations took place.
Demirtas and a large number of his colleagues from the HDP, which has now been rebranded as the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) due to the party’s legal issues, have been jailed over alleged ties with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
DEM Party condemned the latest ruling, labeling it "null and void in the eyes of us and the people."
Demirtas, who has been jailed since 2016 on terror-related charges, attended the trial in a court in Mersin through video conference from Edirne prison. The case related to speeches he made in 2015 and 2016 in which he was accused of “publicly insulting the government of the Republic of Turkey, judicial organs, the military and the security forces,” reported Bianet.
The Kurdish politician denied charges against him and labeled the trial “politically motivated.”
"If I were an ultra-nationalist politician who orchestrated killings in the heart of Ankara and threatened people, no case would be filed against me. Instead, you would protect me. If I were a fascist politician, the judiciary would protect me. But because I am a Kurdish politician exercising my right to criticize, I am prosecuted," Bianet quoted Demirtas as saying in his defense.
Demirtas is currently serving a 42-year sentence he was given in a separate trial in May. He was one of several Kurdish politicians convicted over 2014 protests related to the defense of Kobane city against the Islamic State (ISIS) in northeast Syria. Demirtas was the co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) when the nationwide demonstrations took place.
Demirtas and a large number of his colleagues from the HDP, which has now been rebranded as the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) due to the party’s legal issues, have been jailed over alleged ties with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
DEM Party condemned the latest ruling, labeling it "null and void in the eyes of us and the people."
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