Co-mayor of Sur sentenced to prison for a speech in Kurdish

The sentence was suspended for 5 years and the court ruled for deferment of the announcement of the verdict.

Filiz Buluttekin, co-mayor of Amed’s central Sur district municipality, was indicted on the grounds of a speech she made in Kurdish at the Local Conference of Women held on 7 January 2018.

The fourth hearing in the case was held at Diyarbakır 11th Heavy Penal Court on Tuesday. The Kurdish politician, who is accused of “spreading terrorist propaganda”, did not attend the hearing while her lawyer Sertaç Buluttekin was present.

The prosecution reiterated the opinion made in the previous hearing seeking a jail sentence for “spreading terrorist propaganda”.

Complying with the prosecution, the court board sentenced Buluttekin to 10 months in prison. While the sentence was suspended for 5 years, the court ruled for deferment of the announcement of the verdict.