One of Turkey’s most promising young Kurdish politicians was sentenced to eight years and nine months in prison for a questionable terrorism conviction today. A court in the mainly Kurdish southeast region pronounced Kamuran Yuksek, the charismatic co-chair of the Democratic Regions Party (DBP), a member of a terrorist organization.

The official was referring to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the militant group that has been fighting for Kurdish self-rule since 1984.

The DBP’s deputy chairman, Ramazan Tunc, claimed the verdict was reached without amassing sufficient evidence against Yuksek. “No witnesses were even heard. The verdict was rushed; the trial is purely political,” Tunc told Al-Monitor in a telephone interview. 

Yuksek, who is facing trial in three other cases, was not present at the hearing. Party officials said the 37-year-old was in Europe and may not return to Turkey to avoid joining thousands of fellow Kurdish politicians who are behind bars on similar charges. At least 3,850 of them are DBP members, including 85 elected mayors and his co-chair Sebahat Tuncel. Thousands of other detainees belong to the DBP’s sister party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).