One of 11 jailed deputies from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), Nursel Aydoğan, has been given a prison sentence of four years, eight months on charges of committing crimes on behalf of a terror organization despite not being a member of it.
The Diyarbakır 2nd High Criminal Court handed down the prison sentence to Aydoğan on Friday.
Aydoğan testified to the court through the IT Voice and Image System (SEGBİS) from Silivri Prison, where she has been jailed since early November.
In her defense, Aydoğan said she was being tried for attending the funeral ceremonies of outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants. She said she attended the funerals because she is a deputy from the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, which is predominantly Kurdish.
The court ruled that there was no need to suspend the prison sentence given to Aydoğan.
Aydoğan was among 10 HDP deputies including the party’s co-chairs who were arrested in police operations in early November. Another HDP deputy was arrested in December, bringing the number of jailed HDP deputies to 11.