A regional court of appeals in İstanbul has ruled to uphold the prison sentence of nine years, eight months handed down to Canan Kaftancıoğlu, a prominent member of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), over her social media posts, the T24 news website reported on Tuesday.
Kaftancıoğlu received the sentence due to a number of tweets she had posted from 2012 to 2017 that earned her criminal charges of insulting the president, insulting public officials, denigrating the Republic of Turkey, provoking hatred and enmity among the public and spreading propaganda on behalf of terrorist organizations.
Kaftancıoğlu will be able to appeal to the decision at the Supreme Court of Appeals.
The head of CHP’s İstanbul branch is a rising figure in the country’s main opposition party and is considered to be one of the architects of the local election victory the CHP scored against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in İstanbul last year.