Woman politician goes free after retrial

11:22

JINHA

ISTANBUL - Sebahat Tuncel, the woman politician sentenced to over eight years in prison, has been acquitted of all charges of belonging to a "terrorist organization."

Sebahat Tuncel was first arrested for alleged membership in a "terrorist organization" in 2006. Sebahat was in jail as her campaign for Parliament continued in 2007. After she was elected, she was released from jail, but in 2012, a court sentenced her to eight years and nine months in prison.

Sebahat is now the co-speaker of the Peoples' Democratic Congress that brings together political groups and social movements in Turkey. She recently appealed the prison sentence against her, arguing that her constitutional rights had been violated during the trial. The Constitutional Court, Turkey's highest court, agreed that her case should be retried.

Today, at a trial in Istanbul, the court acquitted Sebahat of all charges.

(sö/dc/gc/cm)