April 10, 2008 | İstanbul

A Turkish court has sentenced Kurdish politician Leyla Zana to two years in prison for spreading propaganda of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Zana was convicted yesterday by the Diyarbakır 6th Criminal Court under anti-terrorism laws for a speech she delivered last year at a Kurdish festival. She had said during Nevruz festivities last year that Kurdish people had three leaders and owed gratitude to these leaders.

Zana, a former deputy of the now-defunct Democracy Party (DEP), said during yesterday's hearing that she considered her being tried for her thoughts a shame for Turkish democracy.

"It is a shame in the name of Turkish democracy that I have appeared before the judge for my thoughts," she said.

The court, upon hearing Zana's five-page defense, ruled in favor of a two-year sentence for her in accordance with Article 7/2 of the Counterterrorism Act for "spreading propaganda of a terrorist organization."

The court also decided to send a copy of Zana's defense to the Diyarbakır Public Prosecutor's Office to launch an investigation into it.

Zana first came to prominence in 1994 when she was convicted by a state security court for links to the outlawed PKK separatist organization. She was released in 2004 after the Supreme Court of Appeals overturned her conviction.