The Court of Cassation has upheld a jail sentence of 4 years and 8 months given to Selahattin Demirtaş in 2018. The Kurdish politician’s lawyers deem it a ‘political conspiracy’ against him.
On September 7, 2018 Peoples' Democratic Party's (HDP) former co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş was sentenced to 4 years and 8 months by the Istanbul 26th High Criminal Court for his speech at the Newroz celebration held in Istanbul on 17 March 2013. The Court of Cassation has upheld the jail sentence today.
Demirtaş's lawyers made a written statement regarding the court decision.
The statement noted that Demirtaş was sentenced to 4 years and 8 months, the highest penalty ever given for ‘propaganda crime’, as the AKP-MHP government wants to depict him as “in prison as convicted of another crime” considering that the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is likely to deliver "violation" and "release" rulings.
The statement added that "The upholding of the prison sentence is politically motivated, which is also confirmed by the ECtHR Grand Chamber ruling. We will insist on law.”
