The European Court of Human Rights will hand down a ruling on Tuesday on a suit brought against Turkey by 13 former Kurdish lawmakers including jailed deputy Leyla Zana who were given heavy prison sentences or forced to leave the country, officials said.

The Kurds, former deputies of the outlawed pro-Kurdish Democracy Party (DEP), have accused Turkey of violating the Council of Europe's human rights charter, which Turkey has signed.

A key complaint of the deputies is that they were stripped of their parliamentary mandates when their party was banned.

Five of the defendants -- Ahmet Turk, Mehmet Atip Dicle, Orhan Dogan, Selim Sadak and Leyla Zana -- were condemned by an Ankara court in 1994 to 15 years in prison for belonging to an armed group. 

Seadt Yurttas received seven and a half years for aiding and abetting an armed group, and a seventh deputy, Sirri Sakik, received three years for separatist propaganda in the same year.

The six others fled Turkey to escape charges of encouraging separatism and engaging in anti-state activity.

Turkey's highest court of appeals in 1995 overturned two of the 15-year sentences, freeing the deputies provisionally, but upheld the other sentences.

The European court earlier this week condemned Turkey for violating the rights of a half-blind lawyer and writer, who was sentenced to life in prison in 1985 for giving a pro-Kurdish speech.

The court will also hear arguments next week on another rights case involving the government's dissolution of the Islamist party Refah.
 
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