Former presidential candidate Salahtin Demirtash has criticized the president - and will be sent to prison • "I did not visit him directly", he argued in his defense
Slahattin Demirtash
Photo:
AFP
The Kurdish leadership continues to get entangled:
the pro-Kurdish Democratic People's Party (HDP) leader and former presidential candidate, Selahattin Demirtaş, has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for harming Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's good name.
This is not the maximum sentence demanded by the prosecution in the case, four years and eight months, but it is certainly a not inconsiderable sentence.
The trial began in 2015, when Demiratash sharply criticized President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and then-Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu during a speech at Ataturk Airport.
The same criticism led to the opening of legal proceedings for "insulting the president", since Turkish law does not harm the good name of key figures, such as the president, the president of the Supreme Court, and the founder of the republic - Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
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"I criticized the government," Demirtash claimed, "I did not direct the criticism at the president and prime minister."
On the other hand, the judges ruled that "the defendant's statements exceeded the limits of opinion and criticism. He deviated from the freedom of criticism and common expression and his remarks constituted defamation against Erdogan and Debateolo. Therefore, he committed the offense of insulting the president and deserved severe punishment."
Despite the legal process, Demirtash ran for president in 2018.
He finished the election in third place out of the six presidential candidates at the time: Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Erdogan - 52.59%;
The candidate of the Republican People's Party (CHP) Muharrem İnce - 30.64%;
Democratic People's Party candidate Demirtash - 8.4%;
And the candidate of the "Good" Party (iYi) Meral Akşener - 7.29%;
As well as two other candidates who received less than one percent of the vote.