01 November 2017•Update: 01 November 2017
By Aziz Aslan
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey
A court in southeastern Diyarbakir province on Wednesday sentenced an official of the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) to 11 months and 20 days in prison.
Ziya Pir, Diyarbakir deputy of the party, was convicted insulting a public servant who was performing his duties.
The court adjourned the announcement of the verdict.
Pir’s lawyer claimed his client’s actions must be assessed in the scope of freedom of speech, a judicial source, who refused to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media, told Anadolu Agency.
Pir had previously told journalists, “I would not use those words today. I did not know it was libelous."
Also on Wednesday, a court in southeastern Gaziantep province overruled a verdict for HDP’s Hakkari deputy Abdullah Zeydan.
Zeydan was, earlier, sentenced to five years in prison for being a member of the PKK terror organization and three years, one month and 15 days in prison for spreading terrorist propaganda.
He was remanded in custody in November together with several other HDP lawmakers for ignoring a summons to testify as part of a counter-terrorism investigation.
The lawmakers began facing prosecution under anti-terrorism legislation after their parliamentary immunity was lifted in March 2016.
Since the PKK resumed its armed campaign against Turkey in July 2015, it has been responsible for the deaths of some 1,200 Turkish security personnel and civilians, including many women and children.
