BERLIN â A German court has convicted a Turkish citizen of membership in a Kurdish separatist terrorist organization and sentenced him to three years in prison.
A Berlin state court said Tuesday it found 43-year-old Vezir T. guilty of being a high-ranking member of the banned PKK in eastern Germany, and found that he raised money for the group. His last name wasn't released in accordance with German privacy laws.
The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the European Union. Tens of thousands have been killed since the PKK took up arms in 1984 in its fight for Kurdish autonomy in southeast Turkey.
The court said it stopped short of giving Vezir T. a harsher sentence because "he and his family were victims of anti-Kurdish repression" previously.
