Aysel Tuğluk, an independent pro-Kurdish MP from Diyarbakır, was sentenced on Tuesday, June 12, to 14 years and 6 months in prison on charges of being a member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and spreading propaganda for the PKK in a series of 12 speeches she made between 2007 and 2010, Today’s Zaman reported.

The Diyarbakır 4th High Criminal Court sentenced Tuğluk to over a decade in prison for speeches she made on 12 separate occasions, saying her actions and activities have reached a level at which she could be considered to be a member of the PKK. Such a charge calls for a six year, three month jail sentence in line with Article 314 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).

In a similar development, a Diyarbakır court last month sentenced Leyla Zana, another independent pro-Kurdish deputy from Diyarbakır, to 10 years in prison on charges of being a member of the PKK and spreading PKK propaganda in speeches she made over four years ago.