Turkey: A 25-year-old Kurd who is Turkey's youngest mayor slammed on Monday as "ridiculous" a four-year jail sentence she was handed for taking part in protests she claims she did not attend.
A court in the southeastern regional capital Diyarbakir said Monday she had been convicted because judges believed the profile of her nose and mouth matched that of a protester filmed at a violent Kurdish rally.
Rezan Zugurli, who was elected mayor of the Lice district of Diyarbakir in March, was sentenced to four years and two months in jail in May for participating in three rallies in 2010 and 2011 in support of the Kurdish rebels.
But Zugurli, a university student, said the person in the video was not her and that she had not joined in any of the protests.
Zugurli is currently free, pending appeal.
In that case, she was found guilty of on charges of committing crimes "on behalf of the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK)" the outlawed group which has waged a deadly insurgency for greater autonomy for Kurds in southeastern Turkey.
Her jailing came despite gestures by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party that have seen scores of Kurdish prisoners released in recent months.
A court in the southeastern regional capital Diyarbakir said Monday she had been convicted because judges believed the profile of her nose and mouth matched that of a protester filmed at a violent Kurdish rally.
Rezan Zugurli, who was elected mayor of the Lice district of Diyarbakir in March, was sentenced to four years and two months in jail in May for participating in three rallies in 2010 and 2011 in support of the Kurdish rebels.
But Zugurli, a university student, said the person in the video was not her and that she had not joined in any of the protests.
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Zugurli is currently free, pending appeal.
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In that case, she was found guilty of on charges of committing crimes "on behalf of the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK)" the outlawed group which has waged a deadly insurgency for greater autonomy for Kurds in southeastern Turkey.
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Her jailing came despite gestures by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party that have seen scores of Kurdish prisoners released in recent months.
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