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FORMER leading Turkish opposition politician Selahattin Demirtas is set to appear in court today, facing the prospect of a lengthy prison sentence on trumped-up terrorism charges.
Mr Demirtas, who was co-leader of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP), is expected to be present at the hearing at the 19th High Criminal Court in Ankara’s notorious Sincan prison.
It will be the first time he has appeared in court in person since June’s presidential and parliamentary elections, which saw President Recep Tyyip Erdogan consolidate his authoritarian grip on Turkey.
He did not appear at last month’s Istanbul court hearing, where he was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison for “making propaganda for a terrorist organisation.”
The charges related to a 2013 Newroz speech in which he commemorated the murder of three Kurdish women — Fidan Dogan, Sakine Cansiz and Leyla Saylemez — in Paris, allegedly by Turkish state agents.
Mr Demirtas is accused of establishing and managing a terrorist organisation and faces a 142-year prison term.
