Former co-mayor of Nusaybin Municipality, Sara Kaya, was sentenced to 10 years and 6 months in prison, but her release was ordered in the trial celebrated after the Supreme Court's reversal of its decision.
The hearing of the case of former Nisêbîn Municipality co-mayor Sara Kaya, who was arrested and replaced by a trustee after she was detained in a raid on her house in the Nusaybin (Nisêbîn) district of Mardin (Mêrdîn) on 13 January 2017, was held on Thursday.
Sara Kaya, who was sent to prison by the Mardin 4th High Criminal Court on charges of "membership in an illegal organization", "abuse of office" and "inciting the public to hatred and hostility", did not attend the hearing as she is participating in the protest by prisoners who demand freedom for Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan. The protest involved the non-participation in the hearings.
Kaya's lawyers were present at the hearing, and so were her family, a DEM Party delegation as well as Mardin MP Kamuran Tanhan.
Lawyer Mehmet Emin Kaya took the floor, drawing attention to Kaya's long detention period of 7 years, 3 months and 29 days, and requested her release.
In its opinion, the prosecutor's office requested that Kaya be punished within the scope of the Supreme Court's reversal order and asked for Kaya's release due to her long detention.
Announcing its decision, the court sentenced Kaya to 10 years and 6 months in prison on the allegation of "membership in a terrorist organisation" and decided to release her with a "ban on leaving the country".
