Turkey sentences former opposition MP to 22 years in prison

A Turkish court Monday sentenced Leyla Guven, a deputy with the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) who was stripped of her parliamentary seat and legal immunity in June, to more than 22 years in prison on terrorism-related charges.
A demonstrator holds a picture of HDP lawmaker Leyla Guven during a protest against the detention of three opposition lawmakers, in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 6, 2020. - Turkish police on June 4, 2020 detained three opposition lawmakers after the parliament stripped them of their jobs, triggering furious charges that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government is seeking to further consolidate authoritarian rule. (Photo by Yasin AKGUL / AFP) (Photo by YASIN AKGUL/AFP via Getty Images)
A demonstrator holds a picture of HDP lawmaker Leyla Guven during a protest against the detention of three opposition lawmakers, in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 6, 2020. - YASIN AKGUL/AFP via Getty Images
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Diego Cupolo
@diegocupolo

ISTANBUL – A former opposition party lawmaker who was stripped of her parliamentary seat and legal immunities in June was sentenced Monday to 22 years and three months in prison on terrorism-related charges.

Leyla Guven was convicted for membership of a terror group and disseminating terror propaganda, among other charges, by a Diyarbakir court that issued a warrant for her immediate arrest following a hearing Monday.

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