GERMAN parliamentarian Cansu Ozdemir vowed yesterday to continue pressing for the lifting of a ban on the display of flags associated with the Kurdish freedom movement, after the case against her was closed.

The Die Linke representative in Hamburg’s regional parliament was due to appear in court yesterday after publishing a photograph of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) flag on Twitter in November 2017.

She made the post as part of a social media campaign to overturn the ban on the PKK.

But the public prosecutor brought charges against her under the Associations Act (sharing of forbidden symbols).

The German politician was convicted last October with a suspended fine of €4,500 (£4,000), but the case was closed after an appeal hearing at the Hamburg Higher Regional Court was dropped late on Monday.

Ms Ozdemir said: “Under no circumstances should it be a crime to demand the lifting of the PKK ban. This demand is a completely legitimate and legal right, which I used in sharing that post.

“As a member of the parliament, I will continue to express the demand for an end to the PKK ban and [highlight] the crimes of the Turkish state.”