Prosecutors request two years of jail for former Diyarbakır mayor for ‘insulting PM’

Prosecutors have opened a lawsuit against former Diyarbakır Mayor Osman Baydemir on charges of insulting Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, demanding two years in jail.

A complaint was filed against Baydemir after a speech he made in June 2012 in front of the prison facility in the eastern province of Van, in which he called the prime minister a “fascist” due to the arrests made in the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) trial.

“Fascist prime minister, you will not have any results. All those who obey you are fascists and vile like you,” said Baydemir during the speech, in which he slammed the arrest of several senior officials from the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), including Van Mayor Bekir Kaya.

The Van Prosecutor’s Office charged Baydemir for “insulting a public official” in the indictment, which has been received by Van’s 1st Criminal Court of Peace. The trial is set to start July 10.

Baydemir has already been fined 6,000 Turkish Liras of pecuniary damages for the same statement, following a lawsuit opened by Erdoğan’s lawyers.