Telli is a poet whose work often focuses on Kurdish rights. He has faced persecution for his writing since the 1980s. In 2020, he was tried on false charges of “insulting the president” on social media. He was acquitted in January 2021. In October 2022, he was indicted for reciting his poetry at a rally. He was tried and given a suspended sentence of 10 years for “terrorist propaganda” in July 2023.