Selahattin Demirtas faces new terrorism charges over tweet from nine years ago

Turkish prosecutors are seeking from one year to five years in jail for former Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtas in a new lawsuit concerning the renowned Kurdish politician's tweet from 2013.

The indictment submitted to the Ankara 17th Heavy Penal Court on March 23 accuses Demirtas of “making terror propaganda,” Mezopotamya news agency reported on April 1.

The indictment has been drafted by prosecutor Ahmet Altun, who had also drafted the indictment of the Kobani Trial, and is waiting to be approved by the court.

According to the 28-page-long indictment, Demirtas's Nov. 16, 2013 dated tweet included the phrase of “Biji Serok Apo,” Kurdish for “Long live Apo,” referring to the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan.

Demirtas has been in prison since 2016. He faces hundreds of years in prison on charges related to the PKK - designated a terrorist organization by Ankara - despite a previous European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling that he was imprisoned on political grounds and should be released immediately.

Reporter's code: 50101

News Code 2316

Your Comment

You are replying to: .
captcha