Pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) parliamentary group deputy chairman and Muş deputy Ahmet Yıldırım received a suspended sentence and a ban from politics in a trial for insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
According to a story on the Gazete Duvar website on Monday, the Muş 2nd Penal Court of First Instance handed down a one year, two month suspended sentence and a political ban to Yıldırım in its decision on June 21.
Speaking to Gazete Duvar, Yıldırım said another court ruled for non-prosecution in a similar case concerning main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for calling Erdoğan a “hack dictator.”
“He said ‘hack dictator’ and I said ‘hack sultan’ [about Erdoğan]. He [Kılıçdaroğlu] criticized [Erdoğan] more, even targeting his honor; however, a decision of no prosecution was made [by the court]. My words are political criticism,” he said.