Turkish Court Starts Trying Party Leader For Paving His Way Out Of Military Service

ANKARA - A Turkish court started on Monday the trial of the chairman of an opposition political party for "cheating in order to pave his way out of compulsory military service."
A military court in the Turkish capital of Ankara held the first hearing against Nurettin Demirtas, chairman of the Democratic Society Party (DTP).
The prosecutor asks up to ten years of prison charges for Demirtas and 71 other people under the Military Penal Code.
Turkish police detained Demirtas at Ankara`s Esenboga Airport on December 17th, 2007 after he had returned from Germany. He was accused of arranging a fake certificate of disability for discharge in order to be exempt from military service.
(BRC-MS)