Opponent Canan Kaftancioglu is paying dearly for his decisive engagement in the municipal campaign in Istanbul. The head of the main opposition party to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was sentenced Friday, September 6 to nine years and eight months in prison.
Canan Kaftancioglu, head of the People's Republican Party (CHP) for the province of Istanbul, has been convicted of five different charges, based mainly on tweets posted several years ago: "Terrorist propaganda "," insulting the head of state "," insulting an official "," insulting the Turkish Republic "and" inciting hatred ".
The politician, whose trial was well attended in Turkey and abroad, risked up to 17 years in prison.
"Political Trial"
Since each prison sentence, taken individually, is less than five years, she will not be imprisoned pending her appeal trial, which should take place within six months, according to the head of the CHP.
Throughout the case, this forensic pathologist has denounced a "political trial" aimed, according to her and her supporters, to punish her for her role in the victory of the opposition candidate at the municipal elections in Istanbul.
Canan Kaftancioglu is indeed presented as the architect of the victorious campaigns of Ekrem Imamoglu, who defeated Recep Tayyip Erdogan's candidate in Istanbul in March, then in June after the cancellation of the first election under controversial conditions.
The politician attended part of the hearing on Friday. Several hundred people gathered Friday morning in Istanbul court to support him.
With AFP