KURDISH political prisoner Sebahat Tuncel faces an extra four years behind bars after new charges were brought against her for calling Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a misogynist.
Investigations have been opened by the Diyarbakir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office over Ms Tuncel “insulting the president,” which is a crime under Turkish law.
She was indicted on Saturday for a speech she gave in protest against the detention of Dyarbakir’s co-mayors Gultan Kisanak and Firat Anli in October 2018 in which she said: “Tayyip Erdogan is a complete misogynist.
“The [ruling Justice & Development Party] AKP and Tayyip Erdogan are Kurdish enemies…”
Ms Tuncel is the former co-chair of the Democratic Regions Party (DBP), a sister organisation of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) that stands in regional and municipal elections.
She was originally detained in October 2016 when prosecutors sought a sentence of up to 130 years in prison on terrorism charges relating to speeches and activities in her capacity as a politician for a legal political party.
In February 2019 she was sentenced to 15 years in prison for being a member of a terrorist organisation and making propaganda for a terrorist organisation, namely the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Even the slightest hint of criticism of Mr Erdogan is enough to bring charges of insulting the president, which carries a maximum four-year prison sentence.
Such cases rocketed by 30 per cent in 2019, with 26,115 people investigated, some 5,000 facing court hearings and 2,462 jailed.
Each alleged insult is treated as an individual crime, meaning cumulative sentences for those found guilty.
Last year Burhan Solak was sentenced to 12 years and three months for posts critical of Mr Erdogan.
Ms Tuncel has denied the charge. She said she should be able to criticise a political opponent, warning of an attempt to “prevent freedom and thought, expression and organisation, especially the freedom of politics.”
Source: Morning Star Online
