Leyla Zana (born 3 May 1961) is a Kurdish politician from Kurdish descent. She was imprisoned for ten years for her political activism, which was deemed by the Turkish courts to be against the unity of the country. She was awarded the 1995 Sakharov Prize by the European Parliament but was unable to collect it until her release in 2004. She was also awarded the Rafto Prize in 1994 after being recognized by the Rafto Foundation for being incarcerated for her peaceful struggle for the human rights of the Kurdish people in Turkey and the neighbouring countries. Early life She was born in May 1961, in Silvan, Diyarbakır Province, in the southeast of Turkey. When she was 14 years old, she was married to her cousin Mehdi Zana, who became the mayor of Diyarbakır three years later in 1977 until the military coup d'état and a political prisoner after it. Political career After the arrest of her husband Mahdi Zana, she and other relatives of prisoners tried to raise awareness for the prisoners situation. Against Mehdi Zana have been pressed charges for publishing poetry in the Kurdish language. In 1987, Leyla Zana was arrested for the first time for two months for taking part in a rally against torture. In 1991 Zana was elected to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on behalf of the Social Democratic People's Party (SHP). She created a scandal when she spoke Kurdish on the floor of the parliament after being sworn in, even though it was known to be illegal. The Kurdish language, even when spoken in private, had been illegal for years in Turkey. Only in that year, 1991, was the Kurdish language finally legalized, though speaking Kurdish remained illegal in public spaces, as Zana was sworn in. Her remarks ended, I swear by my honor and my dignity before the great Turkish people to protect the integrity and independence of the State, the indivisible unity of people and homeland, and the unquestionable and unconditional sovereignty of the people. I swear loyalty to the Constitution. I take this oath for the brotherhood between the Turkish people and the Kurdish people. Only the final sentence of the oath was spoken in Kurdish: "I take this oath for the brotherhood between the Turkish people and the Kurdish people." In response to this, calls for her arrest blaming her of being a "Separatist" and "Terrorist" were