He was first imprisoned in 1980 following the military's overthrow of a democratically elected government. At the time, Mr. Zana was Mayor of Diyarbakir, a city in southeastern Turkey comprised entirely of Kurds. Despite his numerous arrests, Mr. Zana has been well received in the West, particularly in Europe, where he accepted the 1995 Sakharov Peace Prize from the European Parliament on behalf of his wife, Leyla. Mr. Zana was later imprisoned in 1994 following testimony he gave before the European Parliament's Subcommittee for Human Rights. Currently, Mr. Zana lives in exile in Sweden.
Freedom of expression is at the heart of democracy.
Turkey, however, claims to have a democracy without freedom of expression. More journalists are imprisoned in Turkey than any other country in the world.