Hakkari Mayor Convicted to 15 Months of Prison

Hakkari Mayor Bedirhanoğlu has been convicted to 15 months of prison for attending the funeral ceremony of PKK guerrilla Ferdane Kına on August 10, 2012. 

bianet retrieved the information from Yüksekova Haber, a local news website that referred its article to Dicle News Agency.  

Yüksekova 2nd Assize Court found Bedirhanoğlu guilty of “attending illegal demonstration or protests and refusing to disperse despite warning and force”, sentencing him to 15 months of prison. 

Bedirhanoğlu released a statement, criticizing the ruling. 

“On the aforementioned date, I have attended a funeral ceremony in Gever along with BDP Hakkari deputy Adil Zozani. I was convicted to 15 months of prison because of that. Unfortunately attending funerals is punishable [in Turkey].

“I am a mayor, a local politician. I must rather be criticized to not attend a funeral in my region. However, I am convicted to do that. We will never accept this.

“Even though there was no unrest in the funeral ceremony, even though no authority has declared that this ceremony was illegal, even though we only attended a funeral, we have received this sentence. This alone shows how laws in Turkey are compatible with the reality.

“We will take this case to the Court of Appeals. We hope that they will suspend this sentence as it is about an non-punishable act. This is a proof on under what circumstances we are living in Hakkari province. We want the public to know this.” (EKN/BM)

* Click here to read the original article in Turkish.