- Academic Aslı Aydemir asked to be acquitted in her defense statement, describing the injury of the complainant police officer as “an unfortunate accident,” as a court ordered a report on the officer’s alleged loss of function and the submission of video footage to an expert witness.
- The presence of numerous police officers wearing vests labeled “Security Branch” outside the courtroom and the delayed start of the hearing drew attention in terms of the impartiality and openness of the proceedings.
The first hearing in the case against Aydemir, who was arrested on the charge of “resisting to prevent the performance of duty” after she protested an attack on the Istanbul office of satirical magazine LeMan in the Beyoğlu district, was held at the Istanbul 8th Criminal Court of First Instance.
Aydemir, who was detained on July 4 and released on Jan. 14 after spending 190 days in pretrial detention at Silivri Prison, was present in court.
Observers from the Istanbul Bar Association, Academics for Peace, an MLSA observer, the Association of Psychologists for Social Solidarity (TODAP), the Istanbul Bar Association Women’s Rights Center, the education union Eğitim Sen, and representatives from LeMan magazine attended the hearing.
Trial begins 20 minutes late
After the defendant, lawyers, the complainant and audience members took their seats, the hearing began approximately 20 minutes later as they waited for the judge and prosecutor.
Outside the courtroom, a large number of uniformed and plainclothes police officers were seen, as the complainant police officer serves as a chief in the Security Branch.
Defense: “My only mistake was addressing them”
The hearing started when the judge entered the courtroom 20 minutes late. Following identification procedures and the reading of the charges, Aydemir said in her defense statement that her testimony at the police station had been recorded incompletely.
She said she had gone to Beyoğlu to meet her spouse on the day of the incident and learned that there had been an attack on LeMan after seeing a crowd on Mis Street. Aydemir stated that an Islamist group within the crowd was chanting “an eye for an eye, blood for blood” and turned toward them.
“I suppose my only mistake was addressing them. I told them, ‘You’re in the wrong place, go to Palestine.’ They shouted back at me, ‘Go to a brothel,’” she said.
Aydemir said individuals from the group who turned toward them assaulted her and her spouse. She stated that she threw the liquid from the beer glass she was holding toward the crowd and did not know whether the glass had broken.
“I consider the officer’s injury an unfortunate accident”
Aydemir said she did not know that the injured person at the scene was a police officer and that she had been targeted by certain social media accounts and subjected to sexist insults.
Regarding the injury of the complainant police officer, she said: “I don’t know whether the injury was caused by the glass in my hand or by bottles thrown by the other side. When I watched the footage, I thought he was trying to protect me. I consider his injury an unfortunate accident and a workplace accident.”
Stating that as a psychologist she acts on the principle of not harming anyone, Aydemir said, “For someone to be injured and for me to be accused of it is a heavy moral burden. I hope he recovers soon. I request my acquittal.”
Complainant officer: “The glass exploded on my arm”
The complainant police officer, identified as Mustafa Ö., said he was serving as a police chief in the Security Branch responsible for public order incidents at the time. He said he had negotiated with the crowd during the attack on LeMan and dispersed the first group.
Mustafa Ö. said that when he saw the defendant raise the beer glass in her hand “as if making a toast,” he realized an incident would occur.
He said he heard someone in the crowd tell Aydemir to “go to a brothel,” but that the person who said it was not the one who moved toward the defendant.
“When the woman swung the glass, it exploded on my arm,” he said.
Mustafa Ö. alleged that Aydemir was intoxicated, adding, “I understand this based on my professional experience.”
He said he was filing a complaint against Aydemir and requested to join the case as a complainant. He said he had suffered loss of function in his finger due to the injury, that a medical report stated he could not use a firearm for this reason, and that his assignment had been changed.
The prosecutor requested that deficiencies in the file be completed.
The court accepted the complainant’s request to join the case. It ordered a report to determine whether there is loss of function in the complainant’s hand and ruled that video footage of the incident be sent to an expert witness. The hearing was adjourned until 11:40 a.m. on June 23.
