The final hearing of the case against Zuhal Tekiner, the former deputy co-mayor of Silvan Municipality was held in Diyarbakır 9th High Criminal Court. The Kurdish politician is accused of "being a member of a terrorist organization" on the grounds of the actions and activities she participated in 2015 and 2016. Tekiner was not present in the hearing which was attended by her lawyer Abdülkadir Güleç.

 

Basing on the statements of the secret witnesses "Veda", "Ezel" and "Sabir", the prosecutor argued that Tekiner committed the crime of "being a member of an organization" through the actions and activities she participated in. The prosecutor further argued that Tekiner committed the crime of "making successive propaganda for an organization at different times through the press” that promotes the methods of the organization involving force, violence and threats. The prosecutor demanded that Tekiner be sentenced separately for the crimes of "being a member of an organization" and "making successive propaganda".

 

The lawyer of Tekiner, Abdülkadir Güleç, who made a defense against the prosecutor's opinion on the merits, stated that he did not agree with the opinion of the prosecution requesting a sentence for both membership and propaganda. Referring to the prosecutor's request for prison sentence based on secret witness statements, Güleç noted that the secret witnesses articulated contradictory statements with each other.

 

Pointing out that there is no concrete evidence in the file other than the secret witness statements, Güleç said it is been determined through expert reports that his client did not make propaganda. The lawyer demanded his client's acquittal.

 

The court board sentenced Tekiner to 7 years and 6 months in prison for "being membership in a terrorist organization" and 1 year and 6 months for "making terrorist propaganda".