Nalin Öztekin
The second hearing in the trial of 10 people detained during a 2024 Pride Week event in Eskişehir was held this week, drawing criticism from defense lawyers over procedural irregularities and the premature involvement of the prosecutor before the completion of expert evidence.
The defendants were arrested while attempting to participate in a press statement during Eskişehir’s Pride Week in 2024. They are being prosecuted under Turkey’s Law No. 2911 on Assemblies and Demonstrations and for allegedly resisting the police. The trial is being held at the Eskişehir 16th Criminal Court of First Instance.
Call for removal of police officers from the courtroom
At the beginning of the hearing, Çiğdem Kolot from the Ankara Bar Association’s LGBTQ+ Rights Center requested the removal of uniformed police officers from the courtroom, noting that they had also been on duty during the day of the incident. Kolot argued that their presence created a sense of psychological pressure and was incompatible with the right to a fair trial.
Expert report questioned for omitting police violence
Defense lawyers heavily criticized an expert report submitted to the case file, arguing that it was both procedurally flawed and substantively inaccurate. One of the defendants said the report failed to mention any police violence and stated, “In the Republic of Turkey, corruption is a crime, and whoever prepared this report in exchange for money has committed corruption. A five-year-old could understand the footage better than this report does.”
Lawyer Hasan Çayır added, “Without establishing any safe zone, my clients were encircled within 10 seconds. The police intervention was unlawful, and now we are facing a false report on top of it.”
Another defense lawyer, Esra Başbakkal, said the report had no legal merit and demanded it be removed from the file. She also requested that the video evidence be analyzed by forensic medical experts.
Prosecutor repeats call for conviction
Despite objections from the defense, the prosecutor repeated a previous opinion, requesting that the defendants be convicted of “violating Law No. 2911” and “resisting police.”
In response, attorney Fatma Girgin pointed out that the court had forwarded the case to expert review on February 18 but had sent the same case to the prosecutor on the very same day. She argued that issuing a prosecutorial opinion before the evidence was fully collected was a clear procedural violation.
“We reject both the opinion and the report”
One of the defendants stated that they were simply exercising their constitutional rights and had not violated any laws. “There is no crime here,” said the defendant. “We reject both the prosecutor’s opinion and the expert report.”
Simay Ada Kart, who attended the hearing via video link from Silivri Prison, where she is detained in connection with another case, responded to the prosecutor by saying: “Hundreds of LGBTQ+ individuals have faced injustice, but these courts are prosecuting us instead of those targeting us. Participating in a peaceful and democratic demonstration is not a crime—the real crime is intervening in it.”
Next hearing set for April 30
The court adjourned the trial until April 30 after defense lawyers requested additional time to prepare their response to the prosecutor’s opinion.
Background
In 2024, police intervened in a press statement planned as part of Pride Week in the city of Eskişehir in northwestern Turkey, detaining 10 individuals. The group was later charged with violating Law No. 2911, which governs public assemblies and demonstrations. Rights groups have frequently criticized Turkish authorities for using the law to suppress peaceful gatherings, particularly LGBTQ+ events.
