The Ankara 7^th Civil Court of First Instance handed down a compensation fine of TL 6,000 (€ 3,000) to Hasip Kaplan, Member of Parliament for Şırnak (south-eastern Turkey) for the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP). Kaplan was found guilty of an "attack on the personal rights" of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

In an interview with bianet, Kaplan said that he was going to appeal the decision and would go as far as the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) if necessary. "I do not think that my words contained any insult; they implied criticism", Kaplan stated.

According to the Kurdish politician, his statement remained within the limits of freedom of thought. "This is the result that comes out when the complainant is the Prime Minister, the judge is a member of YARSAV [Judges and Prosecutors Union] and the defendant is a member of the BDP. (...) When I go to the ECHR, Erdoğan will be tried as the Prime Minister of his government ".

Initially, Kaplan was facing a compensation claim of TL 20,000 (€ 10,000) based on his speech delivered at an event organized by the New Cyprus Party (YKP) on Cyprus on 11 December 2010. Erdoğan's joint attorneys put forward that Kaplan's speech had contained accusations that went beyond the limits of criticism.

The bone of contention

In his speech, Kaplan said, "The Dolmabahçe [Palace] has been turned into a place where the collaborating powers set up their counter. (...) The Prime Minster summons people and throws out speeches but he has two busses full of university students attacked by the police with tear gas and a young woman has a miscarriage. We saw such a country, such a picture in Istanbul. We have seen the government, we have seen it today in Silopi. So what, Erdoğan! If you are brave enough, if you are courageous then come and remove the election threshold, let us be in these elections together". (NV/EÖ)