05/05/2025 | Writer: Oğulcan Özgenç
Speaking to KaosGL.org, lawyer Hasan Çayır said: “The opinion delivered before all evidence was collected clearly shows that this was a trial with a predetermined outcome. This decision is a dark stain in terms of human rights.”
In Eskişehir, the final hearing was held in the case of 10 people who were subjected to torture while being detained for attempting to participate in a press statement during Pride Week 2024.
The prosecutor reiterated the previously submitted opinion, requesting that the defendants be punished for “violating Law No. 2911” and “resisting the police.”
In their defense, the defendants stated that they did not accept the prosecutor's opinion and demanded acquittal.
The court sentenced all defendants individually to 5 months in prison for violating Law No. 2911. These prison sentences were converted into fines of 15,000 Turkish lira each.
Additionally, the court imposed separate fines of 15,000 lira each on 4 rights defenders for the offense of “resisting and opposing a public official.” The court also did not allow the deferral of the verdict.
Following the hearing, the Eskişehir Pride Week Committee made a press statement:
“Today, 10 rights defenders were sentenced individually in this case. As LGBTI+ people in Turkey, we will continue to march for our rights. We will continue to exist and to live as LGBTI+ people. Long live life, in defiance of hate!”
"This decision is a dark stain in terms of human rights"
Hasan Çayır, the lawyer representing the LGBTI+ activists on trial in the Eskişehir Pride March case, spoke to KaosGL.org about the court's decision.
Çayır pointed out numerous procedural and substantive flaws in the case file, stating:
“Despite the many procedural and substantive deficiencies in the file, all the rights defenders on trial were sentenced. On the same day the case file was referred to an expert, the prosecutor’s office was asked to submit an opinion. Issuing an opinion before all evidence was gathered clearly shows that this was a trial with a predetermined outcome. In addition, a person who was not even included in the case file during the investigation phase was invented, and an indictment was issued and a trial was held for this individual, who wasn’t even mentioned in the prosecutor’s final opinion, and a sentence was requested for them! This clearly proves how arbitrary and unlawful the trial process was.”
Stating that they will appeal the decision, Çayır continued:
“Regarding the accusation of resistance, although the court requested the bus security footage as evidence, it was stated that these recordings, proof of the torture, had been deleted by law enforcement. These camera recordings, which would have proven there was no act of resistance, were deliberately destroyed by the police. The ruling, which had clearly been prepared in advance, was delivered without even a break in the proceedings, simply copied and pasted. This decision is a dark stain on the legal system and human rights. We will appeal the verdict and continue to follow this case. Long live life, in defiance of hate!”
Eskişehir Pride March trial: Move toward conviction before evidence is fully collected
The prosecutor who fell asleep during the hearing demanded sentences for the defendants
In the Eskişehir Pride March case, the expert witness ‘did not see’ the torture
Tags: human rights, life
