Turkey's opposition HDP leaders sentenced, stripped of MP status

Turkey's opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtas was sentenced on Tuesday to five months in prison on charges of "insulting the state and its institutions," while another co-chair, Figen Yuksekdag, was removed from her seat in the parliament.

The court in northeastern Agri province accused Demirtas of "insulting Turkish nation, the state of Turkish Republic and public organs and institutions," local Hurriyet reported.

Earlier on Tuesday, parliament stripped HDP co-chair Figen Yuksekdag of her status as a member of parliament over a terror sentence.

The country's top appeals court has sought a jail term of up to 83 years for Yuksekdag on charges of inciting violence and propaganda in support of a terrorist organization.

Meanwhile, Idris Baluken, a parliamentary group leader of the party, was arrested after he was released on Jan. 30 as part of a terror investigation.

He faces aggravated life imprisonment on charges of disrupting the unity of the state's territorial integrity, membership of an armed terrorist group, spreading terrorist propaganda and taking part in unauthorized meetings and marches.

In November 2016, 13 HDP lawmakers were arrested, and 10 of them, including HDP co-leaders Demirtas and Yuksekdag, have remained in custody pending trials on terrorism-related charges.

The lawmakers began facing prosecution under an anti-terrorism legislation after their parliamentary immunity was lifted in March 2016.

Turkey's government accuses the HDP of having links to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU. Endit