The 18th hearing of the Selahattin Demirtaş case, being heard at the Mersin 14th Criminal Court of First Instance, took place on January 7. President Erdoğan’s lawyer requested that Demirtaş be punished separately for 10 separate speeches he made between 2015 and 2016. The prosecutor also argued that Demirtaş had committed the crime of “insulting the president” in a chain of events. The court sentenced Demirtaş to 1 year, 5 months, and 15 days in prison for the chain of crimes; it ruled that there was no place for postponing the announcement of the verdict or for a stay of execution. The court also ruled that 45,000 TL in attorney’s fees be collected from Demirtaş and given to Erdoğan.
January 7, 2026
Kısa Dalga