Court Relieves Kurdish Mayor of His Duties

The Eigth Chamber of the Council of State ruled to relieve Mayor Selim Sadak of the southeastern province of Siirt of his duties in connection with a sentence he received on terrorism related charges.

The Ministry of Interior had filed a suit in the Council of State for Mayor Sadak to be dismissed from his post after the Supreme Court of Appeals ratified a verdict by the Fifth High Criminal Court in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır to sentence him to 10 months in prison.

Authorities had filed the suit against Sadak on the charge of "making propaganda for a terrorist organization" due to a speech he delivered in relation to the death of Fatma Saka, a militant of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) who fell during a clash with security forces in the southeastern province of Şırnak in 2008, according to the Fırat news agency.

Mayor Sadak, however, requested of the Eight Chamber of the Council of State to overturn the Interior Ministry's appeal on the grounds that he had not been convicted of an act of terrorism and that he had not committed a crime of terrorism, in addition to the fact that the execution of his sentence had also been suspended.

The Council of State ruled, however, that Mayor Sadak was no longer eligible to stand for elections.

"Under these circumstances, there is no legal possibility for Siirt Mayor Selim Sadak to remain in office [since] he has lost his eligibility to stand for elections. Due to the reasons explained [above, the court] has decided through a majority vote to relieve Siirt Mayor Selim Sadak of his duties in accordance with article 44/b of Law No: 5393," the Council of State said. (EKN)