AvAstiN
28th January 2010, 09:50 PM
http://www.presstv.ir/photo/20100128/pirhayati20100128174332171.jpg
A Turkish high criminal court has sentenced an adolescent Kurdish girl to nearly eight years in prison on charges of hurling stones at police officers and chanting illegal slogans during a protest in the southeastern city of Batman.
Police claimed that the 15-year-old Kurdish teenager, Berivan attended an illegal march in October and concealed her face behind a scarf. Berivan rejected the accusation saying that she was detained while going to visit her aunt, Hurriyet newspaper reported on Wednesday.
“I did not hurl stones at police officers. I do not have any relation with the march. I noticed a crowd and walked towards it to see what it was. Police surrounded the crowd before I reached them. A policeman detained me because he thought I was a protester but I was not. I was just going to visit my aunt living in the central part of the city,” Berivan said.
The court had originally sentenced her to a total of 13 years in prison - seven years on charges of committing a crime on behalf of an outlawed organization, five years on charges of attending an illegal demonstration, and one year on charges of propaganda for the group.
However, her sentence was commuted to seven years and nine months because she is an adolescent.
After the judge announced the sentence, the girl's mother burst into tears and shouted, “Did she murder? The murderers are not sentenced to such a long prison term.”
www.presstv.ir
A Turkish high criminal court has sentenced an adolescent Kurdish girl to nearly eight years in prison on charges of hurling stones at police officers and chanting illegal slogans during a protest in the southeastern city of Batman.
Police claimed that the 15-year-old Kurdish teenager, Berivan attended an illegal march in October and concealed her face behind a scarf. Berivan rejected the accusation saying that she was detained while going to visit her aunt, Hurriyet newspaper reported on Wednesday.
“I did not hurl stones at police officers. I do not have any relation with the march. I noticed a crowd and walked towards it to see what it was. Police surrounded the crowd before I reached them. A policeman detained me because he thought I was a protester but I was not. I was just going to visit my aunt living in the central part of the city,” Berivan said.
The court had originally sentenced her to a total of 13 years in prison - seven years on charges of committing a crime on behalf of an outlawed organization, five years on charges of attending an illegal demonstration, and one year on charges of propaganda for the group.
However, her sentence was commuted to seven years and nine months because she is an adolescent.
After the judge announced the sentence, the girl's mother burst into tears and shouted, “Did she murder? The murderers are not sentenced to such a long prison term.”
www.presstv.ir