Kurdish politician Aysel Tuğluk's sentence suspended for one year for health reasons

Click to read the article in Turkish

The Kocaeli Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has decided to postpone the execution of a 10-year prison sentence for Kurdish politician, Aysel Tuğluk, citing "health reasons."

According to the assessment by the Forensic Medicine Institution's (ATK) 3rd Specialization Board on May 22, Tuğluk would be unable to sustain an independent life due to her health condition.

Taking this report into consideration, the prosecutor's office granted Aysel Tuğluk a one-year suspension of her sentence on charges of "membership in a terrorist organization."

Tuğluk was diagnosed with dementia in mid-2021, and her release came after the Forensic Medicine Institution's report in October 2022, which stated that she could not remain in prison due to her health condition.

Despite various similar reports, including one from a university hospital, during this process, there were criticisms from human rights advocates regarding the delay in Tuğluk's release.

Aysel Tuğluk, who faced multiple cases associated with terrorism, was arrested in December 2016 and imprisoned alongside a group of Kurdish politicians. In March 2018, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

About Aysel Tuğluk

Lawyer and politician.

Tuğluk was a founding member and co-chair of the Democratic Society Party (DTP). She was elected as an MP representing Diyarbakır in 2007 and served until 2009, when she was stripped of MP status following the closure of the DTP. She was elected an MP from Van in the 2011 elections as a member of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and served until 2015 as the deputy co-chair of the party responsible for law and human rights.

Aysel Tuğluk was also a member of the Society and Law Studies Foundation Executive Board, a member of the Human Rights Association (İHD) and the founder of the Patriotic Women's Association.

Born in Elazığ in 1965, she graduated from the Faculty of Law of İstanbul University and worked as a self-employed lawyer. (HA/VK)