Turkey: Kurdish opponent Selahattin Demirtas condemned again
Selahattin Demirtas in his prison in Edirne in May 2018 © Kurdish Peoples's Democratic Party (HDP) / AFP
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An Ankara court on Friday sentenced him to a new prison sentence against Selahattin Demirtas, ex-leader of the HDP, the main party of the pro-Kurdish left in Turkey.
Selahattin Demirtas, incarcerated since 2016, was this time tried for remarks qualified as “threatening” against a prosecutor.
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With our correspondent in Istanbul,
Anne Andlauer
"
Insult and threat against a person involved in the fight against terrorism
".
These are the charges of which Selahattin Demirtas has been convicted and which have earned him a further prison sentence.
The complainant was a prosecutor who makes no secret of his closeness to the ruling party and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
During a hearing, Selahattin Demirtas had accused him of having "
fomented a political plot
" and promised
to hold
him "
to account in court
".
A major political threat for Erdogan
For these words, the leader of the pro-Kurdish left is sentenced to two and a half years of detention.
This is neither his first trial, nor his first prison sentence.
In March, he was still sentenced to three and a half years for "
insulting the head of state
".
In another trial, the prosecution is demanding 142 years in prison against him for “
terrorism
”.
Under the leadership of Selahattin Demirtas, the HDP has grown into a party that counts, garnering over 10% of the vote in all elections of the past six years.
The government accuses it of being the "political showcase" of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a group classified as terrorist.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who considers the opponent to be a major political threat, called on the courts to keep him in detention, despite a decision by the European Court of Human Rights ordering his release.
► Also to listen: Orient weekly - Turkey: an imprisoned political leader takes his pen as a writer
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Turkey
Kurds
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Justice