01/07/2024 | Writer: Yusuf Çelik
40th trial of Ahmet Yıldız case was heard yesterday. The court refused to hear the testimonies of family members. The case was postponed to April 17, 2025. Attorney Yağmur Birdal talked about the trial to KaosGL.org.
Photograph: Tuğçe Yılmaz/Bianet
The lawsuit which was brought after Marmara University student Ahmet Yıldız’s murder by their father in 2008 due to being gay, has been dragging on for years. The search for justice for Ahmet Yıldız is now in its fifteenth year and right back where it started. On September 8, 2009, the first hearing of the case was held and it has been expected that the fugitive murderer, father Yahya Yıldız, would be found since then.
The 40th hearing of the case was held yesterday at 13:45 at the Istanbul Anadolu Court, Kartal 5th Heavy Penal Court.
In its 15th year, the murderer(s) of Ahmet Yıldız has not yet been found. However, the father Yahya Yıldız, who is on trial on charges of “intentional killing against a direct descendant”, “violation of the Law for the Firearms and Knives and Other Tools” and “intentional injury”, was seen in Zaxo during the investigation phase of the case and an arrest warrant was issued for him with a red bulletin.
Lawyer Yağmur Birdal from Hevî LGBTI+ Association, Ankara Bar Association LGBTI+ Rights Center Head Barış Barışık, Burcu Uçuran from Social Policy, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Studies Association (SPoD), Sevda Demirtaş from İstanbul Bar Association Human Rights Center were present at the hearing.
The lawyers demanded the arrest of the defendant Yahya Yıldız and to hear the testimony of family members. The prosecutor stated that there was no need to make a new decision on the request for the hearing of family members as it had already been decided. The court did not accept the requests for the family members to be heard and for LGBTI+ organizations to be involved in the trial. It was decided to continue the arrest warrant for the defendant Yahya Yıldız.
“No effective investigation”
Yağmur Birdal, lawyer for the Hevî LGBTI+ Association, spoke to KaosGL.org about the case:
“The Ahmet Yıldız case has exposed a legal anomaly for 15 years. The court persistently refuses to hear the testimony of family members. An effective investigation is not being conducted, and the demands of the lawyers are not taken seriously. The perpetrator or perpetrators of Ahmet Yıldız’s murder remain at large due to impunity policies, and the deaths of LGBTI+ individuals are concealed within this shield of impunity. This situation undermines faith in the rule of law.”
The 41st hearing of the case was scheduled for April 17, 2025, 12:00 pm.
Tags: human rights
