A speech made by imprisoned Kurdish politician Leyla Güven at a meeting held in Batman on 15 September 2016 was subject to a lawsuit.

An indictment was prepared against Güven for "making propaganda of an illegal organisation", "inciting people to hatred and hostility" and "publicly insulting the Turkish nation, state, parliament, government and judiciary" for criticising the appointment of trustees to municipalities in the Kurdish region.

The verdict was delivered today in the trial at Batman 4th Criminal Court of First Instance. While Leyla Güven did not attend the hearing, her lawyer Serdar Çelebi stated that his client's speech was within the scope of freedom of thought and expression. The lawyer presented the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and demanded Güven’s acquittal.

The court sentenced Leyla Güven to 5 months in prison for publicly insulting the Turkish nation, state, parliament, government and judicial organs. Leyla Güven was acquitted of the charge of inciting people to hatred and hostility.