Nalin Öztekin
A court in the northwestern Turkish city of Eskişehir has sentenced 10 human rights defenders to five months in prison each for attempting to attend a press statement during the 2024 Eskişehir Pride Week. The sentences were later converted into fines of 15,000 Turkish lira (approximately $465) per person. Three of the defendants also received the same sentence for “resisting and obstructing a public official.”
The case stems from a police crackdown on participants who had gathered to read a statement during Pride Week, a series of events held to promote LGBTQ+ rights. Turkish authorities have increasingly restricted such events in recent years, often citing public order concerns. Rights groups and international observers, including the Council of Europe, have criticized Turkey for violating the right to peaceful assembly.
During the fourth and final hearing at Eskişehir’s 16th Criminal Court of First Instance, the defendants and their lawyers were present. Attorneys from the LGBTQ+ Rights Center of the Ankara Bar Association and the Human Rights Center of the Istanbul Bar Association also attended as observers.
The court had previously asked the Eskişehir Police Department whether there was a camera in the detention vehicle. The response was negative, prompting defendant Mati to object: “There was violence in that vehicle until we reached the hospital. If one of us had suffered a heart attack, there would have been no one to help,” he said. Mati also claimed that a doctor refused to give them a medical report, while readily issuing one for the police officers involved.
Another defendant, Ozan Devrim Yay, argued that the absence of a working camera in the vehicle should be the responsibility of the police: “If we are punished, ignorant police officers who questioned our LGBTQ+ identity will be rewarded,” he said.
Simay Ada Kart, who joined the hearing via video link from Marmara Prison, paid tribute to LGBTQ+ individuals who have died in hate crimes: “It is not a crime to defend people’s lives. The real crime is trying to remove them from public spaces.”
Defense attorney Hasan Çayır, speaking on behalf of all defendants, said it was legally problematic that a police officer involved in the detention was also listed in a medical report. He argued that the absence of a camera in the detention vehicle amounted to tampering with evidence.
Çayır also criticized the legal basis of the case, stating that the Law No. 2911 on public assemblies—cited as the basis for the charges—should be repealed. “The European Court of Human Rights and Turkey’s Constitutional Court have both recognized that Pride marches are peaceful demonstrations,” he said, noting that the Antalya 23rd Criminal Court of First Instance recently acquitted defendants in a similar case (File No. 2024/675). “We demand an end to judicial harassment against our clients and the prosecution of police officers who used torture,” he added.
In his final statement, Mati said, “If the state insists on disciplining people with batons, it should start with those responsible for taking the lives and livelihoods of LGBTQ+ individuals.”
Following the hearing, the Eskişehir Pride Week Committee condemned the verdict. “Today, 10 rights defenders were sentenced. But as LGBTQ+ people, we will continue to exist, to live, and to march for our rights,” the group said. “Long live life, in defiance of hate!”
