Free Leyla Zana!

Earlier this month, a Turkish court in Amed [Diyarbekir] sentenced Leyla Zana for another 10 years for her speeches given during the past year. According to Turkish Courts, she "indirectly expressed support" for the PKK. Leyla Zana first gained notoriety in 1991, when her oath into the Turkish parliament ended in a Kurdish sentence; "I take this oath for the brotherhood between the Turkish people and the Kurdish people."At the time, Kurdish was banned in Turkey, or as put by the Turkish state, "It was not a recognized language." This quickly generated some charges against her and was "linked" to the PKK, resulting in a 15 years sentence in 1994. During the time she was in jail, she won various awards for her peaceful actions, among them the 1994 Rafto Prize for Human Rights, 1995 Bruno Kreisky Prize for Human Rights, 1995 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought and 1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005. With the pressure of the EU, her case was asked to be resubmitted to the courts for appeals. She was then released in 2004, five years before her sentencing was up.

Good Timing
Her current sentence comes at a perfect timing. According to bianet.org, "The court also decided to deprive Zana of the right to participate in elections either as a candidate or a voter, and the other political rights under article 53/1 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK)." This came while the pro-Kurdish party, Democratic Society Party (DTP), was gaining support in Turkish occupied Kurdistan. Leyla Zana was going to be one of the candidates during their upcoming elections that would represent the Kurdish city of Batman. There seems to be a clear connection here; every time a Kurd becomes popular within the political system of Turkey, he or she will quickly be charged with cases relating to "terror" or other ways are found to charge them through the corrupt and anti-Kurdish laws that is ruling Turkey. I made this flyer to raise awareness for Leyla Zana's current situation. I encourage everyone to send and pass it out to their friends and family. Please feel free to post it on your websites, blogs, facebooks, myspaces, etc...