CHP Aydın women's branch president gets jail term in 'Las Tesis' case

Main opposition CHP Aydın Women's Branch President Ayşe Özdemir has been sentenced to 11 months and 20 days in prison on charges of “insulting” the president. The case against Özdemir was launched after women from the CHP Aydın provincial organization held a dancing protest during a party congress in which they sang viral Chilean feminist anthem "The rapist is you."

Tuesday February 23 2021 12:37 am

CHP Women's Branch Chair Aylin Nazlıaka (C) and CHP Aydın Women's Branch President Ayşe Özdemir (R) are seen.

Duvar English

A Turkish court on Feb. 22 sentenced Ayşe Özdemir, the head of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP)'s women's branch president for the western province of Aydın, to 11 months and 20 days in prison for organizing a so-called “Las Tesis” protest.

Women from the CHP's Aydın provincial organization staged a dancing protest during a congress on Feb. 9, 2020, singing viral Chilean feminist anthem "The rapist is you" to highlight the crisis of femicide in the country.

The song condemns the state for failing to protect women from violence. "You are the rapist. You are the killer. It's the cops, the judges, the state and the president," the lyrics of the song say.

The Aydın 8th Penal Court of First Instance found Özdemir guilty of organizing the relevant protest and sentenced her on charges of “insulting” the president.

Following the court's ruling, Aylin Nazlıaka, the head of the CHP women's branches, addressed the press, saying: “Today here, the dancing of world women against femicide is being prosecuted. Put the murderers on trial, not us.”

“We will not be silenced! We will not be oppressed! Our voice will get bigger. We will never back down from owning up to solidarity, organization and earned rights, and from demanding an equal life,” she said.

"Insulting the president" has been a criminal offense in Turkey since the Republic's foundation, however, the charge has become increasingly common since the election of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as president 2014.