![]() ![]() In May this year Leyla Zana was invited to speak at the Oslo Freedom Forum together with other former prisoners of consciousness such as Elie Wiesel, Palden Gyatso, Elena Bonner, and Václav Havel. She has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize several times. Zana received the Rafto Prize in 1994 and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1995. While in jail, Zana published Writings from Prison detailing her cause and the hardship she faced fighting for the Kurdish people. She was sentenced to 15 years in prison but was released in 2004 due to international pressure. This was the first time Kurdish had been spoken in the Turkish Parliament. Her decision to give the Parliamentary Oath in Kurdish led to immediate calls for her arrest. Leyla Zana was the first Kurdish woman to win a seat in the Turkish Parliament in 1991. You can read the whole story at the link under ABOUT on the right of this page. Leyla Zana is again sentenced to jail in a Turkish Court. ![]()
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