Demirtaş given prison sentence for 'insulting the president'

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Selehattin Demirtaş, the imprisoned former co-chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), has been handed a prison sentence for "insulting the president," his attorney Ramazan Demir has announced on Twitter.

The politician was on trial for his 2015 remarks against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and then-Pm Ahmet Davutoğlu.

Demirtaş, who is currently held at the Edirne Type-F Prison in northwestern Turkey, attended the hearing at İstanbul Bakırköy 46th Penal Court of First Instance via videoconference. His attorneys were present in the courtroom.

The prosecutor alleged that Demirtaş committed the offenses of "insulting the president" and "insult" in his speech at İstanbul's Atatürk Airport on November 24, 2015, and requested a prison sentence of from 14 months to 56 months for the politician.

The court sentenced Demirtaş to 3 years and 6 months in prison. Attorney Demir said, "The court gave the sentence at the upper limit and without applying a reduction."

Demirtaş has been behind bars for "terrorism"-related charges since November 2016 and has not been released despite two separate decisions by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). (RT/VK)