ANKARA
Turkey's Constitutional Court has ordered the retrial of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party lawmaker, who was convicted of being a member of a terrorist organization in 2012.
The court ruled that Sebahat Tuncel’s right to be tried fairly and in a reasonable time period was violated.
Also, the court said Tuncel would receive 5,000 Turkish liras as damages for the lengthy trial she had to face.
The Istanbul High Criminal Court sentenced the HDP lawmaker to eight years and nine months in prison in Sept. 2012.
After her sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court of Appeals, Tuncel filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court.
Tuncel was detained on Nov. 5, 2006, on charges that she attended meetings with Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK leaders. She was then put on trial on charges of "being a member of a terrorist organization."
On July 24, 2007, however, she was released after she was elected an independent deputy from Istanbul in the 2007 general elections.
