Court upholds over 4 years in prison for CHP’s Istanbul head

ANKARA

Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals has approved a prison sentence of four years and 11 months issued against Canan Kaftancıoğlu, the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) head of the Istanbul branch, on three different charges, including insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and terror propaganda.

Kaftancıoğlu is serving as the top executive of the CHP’s Istanbul organization. The court’s judgment may result in Kaftancıoğlu’s imprisonment and a political ban.

A heavy panel court in 2019 had sentenced Kaftancıoğlu to spend a total of nine years behind bars for five separate charges, including “spreading terrorist propaganda” and “insulting public officials.”

The appeal court has approved three cases while dropping two other charges. They include insulting public officials and terrorist propaganda through her social media between 2011 and 2017.

“We will continue to work for the rule of law and the law of 84 million people until we unseat this government,” she said on Twitter as she informed about the appeal court’s decision.

Following the appeal court’s verdict, CHP chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has called on all the main opposition lawmakers to come to the Istanbul provincial branch of the party to support Kaftancıoğlu.