A Diyarbakır court on Thursday sentenced pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Abdullah Zeydan to eight years, one month and 15 days in prison, Cumhuriyet reported.
A verdict of eight years, one month and 15 days for Zeydan for “aiding a terrorist organization” and “disseminating the propaganda of a terrorist organization” handed down by the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court on July 14, 2017 was annulled by the Gaziantep Regional Court following an appeal filed by the HDP deputy’s lawyers.
During Zeydan’s retrial, the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court on Thursday again sentenced the Kurdish deputy to eight years, one month and 15 days in prison.
The Diyarbakır 8th High Criminal Court on Jan. 4 sentenced HDP deputy İdris Baluken to 16 years, eight months in prison on charges of membership in an armed terror group, disrupting the unity and integrity of the state, disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization and taking part in illegal demonstrations.
Turkey has stepped up its crackdown on Kurdish politicians since 2016. Trustees have been appointed to dozens of municipalities in the country’s predominantly Kurdish Southeast, while hundreds of local Kurdish politicians have been arrested on terror charges.
Ten HDP deputies including Co-chairperson Selahattin Demirtaş and former Co-chairperson Figen Yüksekdağ are still in prison.
