DİYARBAKIR - Bismil Municipality Co-Mayor Gülşen Özer was sentenced to a total of 15 years in prison, 7 years and 6 months, on charges of "being a member of a terrorist organization" twice.

 

The judgment of the case was held about Bismil Municipality Co-Mayor Gülşen Özer, who was replaced by a trustee, for participating in 39 press statements, actions and events organized by the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Amed Provincial Co-chairperson in 2016, and by participating in events organized by Tevgera Jinên Azad (TJA) in 2018. While Özer did not attend the hearing at Diyarbakır 11th High Criminal Court, her lawyer Serhat Karaşin was present. At the hearing, the prosecution repeated the opinion given in the previous hearing that Özer should be sentenced to two separate prison sentences on charges of "being a member of a terrorist organization".

 

ÖZER IS ACCUSED OF PARTICIPATING IN 39 ACTIONS OF THE PARTY

 

Özer's lawyer, Serhat Karaşin, who defended against the opinion, reminded that his client was accused of participating in 39 actions and activities, and emphasized that the evaluation of "being a member of an organization" about these actions and activities was wrong. Reminding that his client was HDP Diyarbakır Provincial Co-Chair at that time, Karaşin reminded that his client participated in these actions and events not with his individual identity, but as an HDP executive and emphasized that it was not appropriate for his client to be prosecuted for participating in these actions and activities.

 

NEWS ACCEPTED AS A CALL FOR "TERRORIST ORGANIZATION"

 

Stating that his client's participation in the actions and events organized by TJA was due to the fact that she was also the HDP executive, and that the actions and events held were public, and that the crime of being a member of an organization in front of the press was contrary to the normal flow of her life, Karaşin said: "it is not appropriate to think that the "being a member of an organization" criterion is met by evaluating the news printouts regarding the protests in which my client participated, as a "call for an organization", and I demanded my client's acquittal by saying, It is not possible to talk about the organization's instructions with only a news printout".

 

2 TIMES 7 YEARS 6 MONTHS SENTENCE

 

The court sentenced Özer to 7 years and 6 months on the charge of "being a member of a terrorist organization" due to the actions and activities she participated in while she was HDP Amed Provincial Co-Chair in 2016, and 7 years and 6 months on the charge that she participated in TJA's activities "with a call for an organization" in 2018. The court, which sentenced Özer to a total of 15 years in prison, decided to continue the judicial measure control applied to Özer.