20/02/2024 | Writer: Oğulcan Özgenç
The next hearing of the Derin S. case is going to be held on May 23rd. The request of the associations to intervene in the case was rejected.
The first trial regarding the murder of trans woman Derin S., who was slaughtered last year, was heard at the 36th Ankara Heavy Penal Court. The trial was followed by several organizations including the Pink Life LGBTI+ Solidarity Association, Red Umbrella Association, Progressive Lawyers Association, Ankara Bar Association Women’s Rights Center, and Ankara Bar Association LGBTI+ Rights Center. Derin S.’s family also attended the hearing. Riot police set up a barricade as the defendant entered the courtroom. The request of the associations following the case to intervene in the case was rejected and the trial was postponed to May 23.
The defendant asserted that his statement taken at the police station was inaccurately recorded by the officers
During the trial, the initial testimony came from the defendant, Ali Tanyeri. Tanyeri claimed that Derin S. was injured during a scuffle, expressing remorse by stating, “I regret it, my intention was not to kill.” Additionally, the defendant alleged that Derin S. had borrowed money from him and failed to repay it, maintaining, “I acted in self-defense at that moment.”
When reminded by the presiding judge about the contradictory statements of Tanyeri, the defendant claimed that his statement taken at the police station was incorrectly recorded by the officers.
Following the defendant’s testimony, Derin S.’s family was heard in court. Derin S.’s mother expressed her grief saying, “I lost my young child. My child was burnt to death. May no one else be harmed.” Derin S.’s sister addressed the court and asked, “He claims she was injured during a scuffle. How could someone stab themselves in the back?”
The family requested to intervene in the case. The defendant’s lawyer objected to the family’s intervention, claiming that there was “no family relationship” between them and Derin S. The family’s request to intervene was granted by the court.
The requests for intervention in the case by the organizations following the case were rejected by the court. Pink Life LGBTI+ Solidarity Association, Red Umbrella Association, Contemporary Jurists Association, Ankara Bar Association Women’s Rights Center, and Ankara Bar Association LGBTI+ Rights Center requested to intervene in the case, stating that the defendant Tanyeri killed Derin S. as a result of a hate motivated crime. Despite the prosecution’s request for the acceptance of the organizations’ intervention, the court decided to reject their request, citing that “they have not been directly damaged by the crime.”
Witness Ö. testified in the trial, stating that the defendant Tanyeri had systematically threatened Derin S. Ö. recalled an incident where Tanyeri invaded Derin S.’s home a year and a half before her murder, and Ö. had to call emergency services (112). The defendant denied the witness’ account, alleging that it was false. Additionally, the defendant's lawyer requested the application of legitimate defense and unjust provocation provisions during the trial.
Next trial is going to be heard on May 23
The prosecutor asked for more time to prepare the final opinion and requested the continuation of detention of the defendant Ali Tanyeri. Lawyers Evrim Demirtaş and Senem Doğanoğlu asked for more time to make a statement on the merits. Demirtaş and Doğanoğlu also requested the HTS records of Ö.’s mobile phone to be asked. The court accepted the demands of the prosecutor and the complainant lawyers and adjourned the trial hearing to 23 May, at 15.30.
What happened?
Derin S. was killed in her Ankara home with four stab wounds in her back. After Derin S.’s murder, Pink Life Association’s legal advisor, lawyer Evrim Demirtaş, contacted the homicide department to find out the details of the incident. However she was not able to get any information, so the general coordinator of Pink Life Association, her lawyer and Derin’s friends went to the Ankara Forensic Medicine Institution and followed up the case. After the procedures at the Ankara Forensic Medicine Institution, Derin S.’s body was received by her family and buried in Kırıkkale.
Translation: Selma Koçak
Tags: human rights
