Pro-Kurdish HDP deputy Ayhan Bilgen released by Turkish court

Ayhan Bilgen, a jailed deputy and former spokesperson of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democracy Party (HDP) was released by a Turkish court on Friday, according to a report by BirGün daily.

Ayhan Bilgen, who was arrested after a charge by the Diyarbakır Chief Prosecutor’s Office over his alleged membership to a terror organization on January 31, 2017, known also as a human rights defender. Ayhan Bilgen has been tried in a case that demanded 25,5 years of prison sentence for him.

There are currently 1o HDP deputies, including party’s co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, behind the bars in Turkey after the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government stepped up a crackdown on Kurdish politicians last fall. Trustees have been appointed to dozens of municipalities in the country’s predominantly Kurdish Southeast, while hundreds of local Kurdish politicians have been arrested on terror charges.

The developments have attracted widespread criticism from the region and Western countries.

 

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