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Cemalettin Bakır, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) mayor of the Gülşehri Municipality in Yozgat province, was sentenced to six years and 11 months in prison for instigating people to steal ballot boxes and set votes on fire in local elections in 2009, a daily reported on Tuesday.
According to the Bugün daily, a local court in Yozgat recently ruled that Bakır and five others had stolen and damaged ballot boxes. The court sentenced Bakır to prison for instigating the crime and the five others received an administrative fine for damaging government property.
Bakır told Bugün that the court's decision was political and that he would appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeals. The opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) had submitted a complaint to a local court after losing the elections in the Gülşehri Municipality, alleging that MHP votes had been stolen by AK Party supporters.
The district election board canceled the results of the elections following allegations of fraud on the part of AK Party supporters as well as physical altercations between MHP and AK Party supporters. Bakır won the election held on June 7, 2009 following the cancelation of the original results. Bakır has been elected mayor of Gülşehri for two consecutive terms, as he also won the March 30 local elections last year.
(Cihan/Today's Zaman)
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