23/07/2024 | Writer: Kaos GL
The Istanbul Trans Pride Week Committee made statement regarding the case saying “Despite all the harassment and pressure of the police and the state, we will not give up our struggle.”
A lawsuit was filed against 11 LGBTI+ activists who made a press statement in front of Süreyya Opera House on February 10, 2024.
The Istanbul Trans Pride Week Committee made statement regarding the case saying “Despite all the harassment and pressure of the police and the state, we will not give up our struggle.”
On 10 February 2024, during a press declaration titled “For those we lost in the earthquake,” held in front of Kadıköy Süreyya Opera House as part of Istanbul Trans Pride Week, police attacked the demonstrators. Eleven participants were detained under conditions involving torture. Lawyers representing Pride Week, press workers reacting to the torture, and onlookers were forcibly removed from the area.
Istanbul Trans Pride Week Committee announced on that a lawsuit had been filed against 11 LGBTI+ activists on July 19, who participated in the protest:
“On July 19, 2024, a lawsuit was filed against 11 of our friends who participated in the press statement we called at the Süreyya Opera House on 10 February 2024.
The February 6 earthquakes, which turned a natural disaster into a massacre through the rent and plunder policies of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) – Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) alliance, were blamed on refugees, the poor, and trans people. The anger of the masses was redirected towards these oppressed groups through refugee hostility and LGBTI+ phobia. Our 11 friends, who exposed the rent/pillage policy of the AKP-MHP alliance and protested against the hatred and murder policies targeting trans people, were blockaded and detained with torture during the press statement. One of them was released on February 11 with a ban on leaving the country and judicial control, accused of chanting the slogan ‘Don't forget February 6.’
The lawsuit filed on July 19, 2024, concerning the press statement made on February 10, 2024, will be heard on November 23, in 2024. Despite all police and state harassment and pressure, we will not give up our struggle. We will continue to demand accountability for February 6 until justice is served! Long live our united struggle, long live our trans+ solidarity!”
What happened?
Members of İstanbul Trans Pride Week Committee, which made a call for a protest in front of the Süreyya Opera House on February 10th, were attacked by the police. 11 people were detained under torture during the protest, and Pride Week lawyers and press workers who reacted to the torture were removed from the area.
Speaking to KaosGL.org, rights defenders described the torture inside the detention vehicle:
“We were verbally harassed and tortured at first. Having been subjected to transphobic and moralistic discourses, we were physically assaulted by the police inside the detention vehicle on the way to the hospital where we were to be examined. I was slapped and punched in the eye, ear and nose. I was handcuffed behind my back at the time, so I had no chance to defend myself. My ear and eyes are swollen and I have numbness in the fingers of my left hand because I was handcuffed behind my back. While this torture was taking place in the vehicle, verbal harassment and violence continued. In addition to the physical torture inflicted on us, the psychological dimension of all this is very tiring and exhausting.”
“In the early hours of the morning we were confronted by hundreds of policemen, that is to say a hundred times more than those who protested. We entered the area with the plain clothes policemen who had been behind us for hours, overcoming the blockade they had created, to say that we are here despite you and that your bans are unlawful. We were denied access to the press, lawyers and our friends inside the blockade. I was handcuffed behind my back, leaned against the detention vehicle and hit on the head several times. I was told to bow down before the state and while a police was grabbing me by the head and bend me downward, the other one hit me hard on the head with his thigh. I was kicked in the back while getting into the vehicle. That’s why I can’t walk now. I was punched in the nose, on the left and right side of my face, I can't move my jaw because of the blow on the left side, I’ve been consuming liquid foods for a few days. The verbal and psychological harassment continued from the moment of arrest until the moment of release.”
Following the release of 11 detainees, Istanbul Trans Pride Week Committee had made the following statement:
“The detention and subsequent ill-treatment throughout the night following the torture inflicted on our friend, who was released on judicial control measures including a travel ban and signing in every two days, is unacceptable. You’re threatening our physical safety, and we’re fully aware of that. However, we refuse to back down. We will continue our fight, lodging all necessary objections. As transgender individuals, we reiterate from here: you cannot remove us from the streets, campuses, parliament, workplaces, hospitals, or any other area of life. We exist. Our presence grows stronger each day! Long live our transgender struggle across all aspects of life!”
Tags: human rights
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