A pro-Kurdish former lawmaker convicted of insulting Turkey’s president has requested asylum in Greece after illegally crossing the border, AP reported quoting Greek authorities.

A police official said Turkish citizen Leyla Birlik, 44, surrendered to Greek police Wednesday near the northeastern town of Alexandroupolis, and was in the process of requesting asylum in Greece. She was released pending the asylum process.

Birlik, a former People’s Democratic Party, or HDP, lawmaker was sentenced in January to 21 months’ imprisonment for insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. She was freed pending appeal but banned from leaving Turkey.