19/02/2021 | Writer: Yıldız Tar
The Eryaman-Esat trials, which started to be held again after the reversal decision of the Supreme Court, is postponed to June 1st. The attorneys also requested an assessment for the crime of plunder.
Slaughter, lynch, pillaging, Eryaman / Streets belong to all of us / Eryaman: Slaughter, lynch, pillaging / Photos: Canay Özden, July 2006, Demonstrations against Eryaman/Ankara attacks
The first hearing of the case was held at the 30th High Criminal Court of Ankara, upon the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the sentence of the attackers. The case against four suspects on the grounds of assault against trans women in Ankara/Turkey in 2006 has gone back and forward between the Supreme Court and regional courts for over 10 years.
At the hearing attended by all of the defendants and one defendant, Şammas Taşdemir from the prison, the court decided to postpone the hearing to June 1st in order to acquire further evidence.
Evidence acquired, attorneys demanded an assessment for the crime of plunder
In addition to attorneys, Buse Kılıçkaya, one of the victims of Eryaman-Esat attacks, attended the hearing. Emrah Şahin, one of the attorneys representing the victim trans women at the hearing, talked about the last hearing to KaosGL.org:
"The Supreme Court has overturned the "organized crime" sentence on the grounds of gathering further evidence, not a limine. Indeed, a lot of evidence was collected. The defendants had allegations and demands. They said that the statements about the allegedly lost identity cards during the looting are not true. They demanded a cross-check from the banks. These demands were already submitted previously. The answers to these questions has came. It turned out that all the allegedly lost cards and documents were renewed for being lost during that period. Records of the phone calls and conversations between the defendants came as well. The relationship network came to light. The crime of plunder was never able to be proven in the first instance court. A video that can prove the plunder was recorded by a woman in 2006 but they couldn’t find her and did not listen. They never found this woman and did not listen. They declared nonsuit and passed. This time, we demanded that the prosecution be extended in terms of plundering too. In line with this request, we requested that the witness be heard and additional evidence collected. Now, an investigation is being conducted in terms of plundering. We will make a statement at the next hearing based on Article 77 of the TPC. We will say that the actions subject to the case are crimes against humanity. The case must also be evaluated in this context. They were sentenced for deliberate injury, but what they did not want to reveal is the committed crimes were against people's gender identity and an outcome of an organized gang. And that is what happened in reality."
What happened in the case?
In April 2006, a gang attacked trans women in Eryaman, Ankara. Many trans women were forced to leave their homes in Eryaman. Some of them changed cities, some moved to the Esat District of Ankara. The attacks continued in Esat.
The establishment of the Pink Life Association was an attempt of an organization against these attacks. The trans women who were attacked filed a criminal complaint, charges were pressed. The case that was monitored by lawyers Senem Doğanoglu and Hakan Yıldırım was concluded in 2008. One of the defendants, Şammas Taşdemir, was sentenced to 45 months for wounding with a weapon during a raid on a hairdresser that was frequently used by trans women; The other defendants, Harun Çardak and Ahmet Günay were sentenced to 40 months each, and Ahmet Günay for 34 months for wounding with a weapon against trans women in the Kurtuluş District of Ankara.
The court ruled that the attackers were qualified as gangs, but sentences were all from the lowest limit. There was no sentence for the allegations of pillaging. The verdict was appealed.
Since 2008, the judicial process has turned into a labyrinth. The Supreme Court of Appeals overturned the verdict in 2011. In the meanwhile, the courts that handled the case changed. With the changes in the Criminal Procedure Code, the case went back and forth between the courts. Finally, in 2018, the case went to the Supreme Court of Appeals, again.
Verdict to overturn stated the attackers should be investigated on their gang qualifications, and demanded an investigation regarding the phone call records. The 30th High Criminal Court also complied with the Supreme Court of Appeals' decision and asked the Information Technology and Communications Authority (BTK) for information on whether the attackers communicated with each other.
The case will be re-heard, but the case is in danger of being timed out.
Endless chase of justice: Eryaman-Esat case
The Eryaman-Esat case has become an endless game of chase due to the changes in the judicial system. The attackers were sentenced in 2008 for extortion, wounding, and wounding as part of organizational activity, but were not convicted of looting. The decision included the definition of 'a gang that came together with thoughts triggered by social prejudices'.
Both the attackers and the trans women who were attacked appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court overturned the decision, saying that 'the court has to make a judgment on looting'. The process after the Supreme Court's overturn decision is a complicated story. With the changes in the legislation, the case has been going back and forth between the courts for years. Att. Doğanoğlu explains this process as follows:
“There were courts authorized with Article 250 of the Turkish Penal Code, but they are now removed. Then they said that it was necessary to appeal to the general court, then those established with TPC Article 10 came into force, and it was said that they have the authority. The case went back and forth too many times. At the end of 2018, with a very absurd justification, the case was returned to the 30th High Criminal Court of Ankara. The reason was that a defendant was not notified. They returned the case because they couldn't locate a person's procuration. After all those transfers the case probably is not intact now. After years, we filed the procuration again, and the case was back on the Supreme Court of Appeals. Then the Supreme Court overturned the decision and the trials began from the beginning…”
What happened in Eryaman and Esat?
Senem Doğanoğlu explains the attacks on trans women and their forced migration as follows:
“The reason the case is called Eryaman is that the events did take place in Eryaman, but in fact, the case that we're talking about right now includes the events that took place in Esat. The construction industry was on a rise in Eryaman, and organized gang attacks against trans women living there began. Over time, the men hired by these construction companies increased attacks on trans women as a gang, in cooperation with the police. After a while, the paramilitary force started saying 'you will pay tribute to us'. But the main goal was to exile. Many of the girls fled to Mersin when the attacks on the houses began. Another group settled in Esat.
“We were able to make a case about Şammas Taşdemir in Eryaman. Dilek İnce, who was killed in 2008, was among the complainants. We also monitored a case in which Şammas Taşdemir was tried for property damage. Şammas was sentenced, but it was converted into a fine. He paid. The decision was finalized and over. He was sentenced to a criminal sentence and the motivations of the attackers were not investigated.
“Law enforcement did not take any action for a very long time when the Esat events started simultaneously. It turned into a process where every night someone gets hurt, properties are getting damaged, people were getting threats over phone calls, and that's the time when the shroud demonstrations started. 'If this violence is not prevented we are going on hunger strike,' they said.
“Silent protests began where LGBTI+ organizations and women's organizations participated, and after a while, the police of Çankaya District of Ankara called us. In short, it was a process in which social pressure was very effective, without social pressure, no one would have instructed The Çankaya police on the issue.
“They were assaulting, wounding people. There were raids on hairdressers. Again, damaging vehicles was very common. There were a lot of incidents at night where they get out of their vehicles with machetes on their hands, run onto the girls, and wounding them. We gathered all these incidents together. Complaints were collected from the victims one by one. Then the perpetrators were all picked up. They've been arrested and the trial process has begun.
“The case was first filed in the general court. It was subsequently transferred to the High Criminal Court due to the allegations of looting. At the first trial, most of the girls came and reported their complaints. They talked about the incidents in detail. In the first trial, we explained that it was an organized crime and that they were a gang. We also changed the face of the courthouse at that time. It was important to see the subject there, to see a subject seeking their right, to see what was legitimate.”
Translation: Yiğit E. Korkmaz
Tags: human rights, women
