DGM Sentences Zana to 15 Years Imprisonment

Ankara State Security Court (DGM) sentenced on Wednesday former Democracy Party (DEP) parliamentarians Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, Orhan Dogan and Selim Sadak to 15 years imprisonment terms each in their re-trial.

The 14th trial of former deputies of DEP was completed today.

The court delegation unanimously repeated the sentence of 15 years imprisonment for Zana, Dicle, Dogan and Sadak, which had been given in the first hearing in accordance with Article 168-2 of the Turkish Penal Code and Article 3713 of the Anti-Terrorism Law.

The court also announced the rejection of the request of convicts for annulment of their imprisonment sentence.

Previously, Ankara DGM sentenced Dicle, Zana, Dogan and Sadak to 15 years in prison in accordance with Article 168-2 of the Turkish Penal Code and Article 3713 of the Anti-Terrorism Law on charges of "staging separatist activities both in Turkey and abroad in line with orders and directives of leaders of the terrorist organization PKK".

All four defendants were stripped of their parliamentary immunity, arrested and convicted in 1994 of having links to the terrorist organization of PKK. (GC/AY/YE)