Former HDP deputy Aysel Tuğluk sentenced to 1 year, 8 months in prison

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Kurdish politician Aysel Tuğluk has been sentenced to 1 year and 8 months in prison for "propagandizing for a terrorist organization."

Tuğluk, who is currently behind bars at the Kocaeli Kandıra Type-F Prison, attended today's (October 15) hearing via videoconference.

She denied the charges over his speeches in the eastern Van province on November 25, 2012 and April 4, 2013, but the Van 4th Heavy Penal Court found her guilty as charged.

Tuğluk, a former vice chair and MP of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and a former co-chair of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK), has been behind bars since December 2016.

In the last month, an application for Tuğluk's release due to her worsening medical condition was rejected.

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What happened?

Together with seven other politicians from the HDP, the DTK and the Democratic Regions Party (DBP), Aysel Tuğluk was detained custody on December 29, 2016. She was an MP and the vice co-chair of the HDP at the time.

In the indictment, her statements to the press as the co-chair of the DTK and funerals she attended were presented as evidence.

On March 16, 2018, Tuğluk was sentenced to 10 years in prison for "being an executive of a terrorist organization."

After her appeal was rejected by the Ankara Regional Court of Justice, the case file was sent to the Court of Cassation, the country's top appeals court.

About Aysel Tuğluk

Politician and lawyer.

Tuğluk was the founding member and Co-Chair of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) and elected Diyarbakır MP in 2007-2009. She became the Van MP of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in 2011-2015. She served as the Vice Co-Chair of the HDP 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.

(KÖ/VK)