ANKARA: A Turkish court on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) sentenced a prominent Kurdish former lawmaker who went on a months-long hunger strike to more than 22 years in jail on terror-related charges. The 56-year-old gained international attention by launching a 200-day hunger strike in 2018 in a bid to end jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan’s isolation by securing him access to his family and lawyers. She was held during a search of HDP lawmaker Semra Guzel’s home in Diyarbakir, police sources said, and was being taken to prison. At the time of her strike, Guven was in custody for labelling the Turkish military operation against a Syrian Kurdish militia an “invasion.” She was freed under judicial control last year after serving a one-year term. “I uttered a scream in the dark… I started by daring to die for this cause,” Guven told the Agence France-Presse in an interview at her home last year when she was on the hunger strike.

Source: Manila Times December 22, 2020 16:30 UTC