Mayors sentenced to 10-month prison terms
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Milliyet
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 22, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - Two mayors from the southeastern region of the country were sentenced yesterday to 10-month terms in prison on charges of engaging in propaganda on behalf of a terrorist organization.
Diyarbakır Mayor Osman Baydemir and Batman Mayor Nejdet Atalay were sentenced to 10 months each by the fourth branch of Diyarbakır’s Court for Serious Crimes on charges of carrying out propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
Baydemir and Atalay were not present in court but were represented by their lawyers Muharrem Erbey and Meral Beştaş Danış. The court reached its verdict after a short break for consideration.
The two were sentenced for calling PKK members "guerillas" in speeches on Feb. 25, 2008, when the Turkish Armed Forces carried out a ground offensive in northern Iraq targeting PKK bases there. Baydemir was re-elected mayor of Diyarbakır on a Democratic Society Party, or DTP, ticket in the March 29 local elections in a landslide after winning 66 percent of the vote. Atalay was elected mayor of Batman, also on a DTP ticket, with 59.67 percent of the vote.
Baydemir and Atalay were not present in court but were represented by their lawyers Muharrem Erbey and Meral Beştaş Danış. The court reached its verdict after a short break for consideration.
The two were sentenced for calling PKK members "guerillas" in speeches on Feb. 25, 2008, when the Turkish Armed Forces carried out a ground offensive in northern Iraq targeting PKK bases there. Baydemir was re-elected mayor of Diyarbakır on a Democratic Society Party, or DTP, ticket in the March 29 local elections in a landslide after winning 66 percent of the vote. Atalay was elected mayor of Batman, also on a DTP ticket, with 59.67 percent of the vote.