In the case in which 22 rights defenders, including Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) Founders’ Board Member Günseli Kaya, are tried on the allegation of “insulting the President” due to the March 19 protests, four detained university students were released. The case was adjourned to April 6.
Sevda Aydın
İzmir – The hearing of the case in which 22 rights defenders, including Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) Founders’ Board Member Günseli Kaya, are tried on the allegation of “insulting the President” on the grounds that they participated in the March 19 protests was seen at the İzmir 49th Criminal Court of First Instance.
University students Mert Gökdeniz Ün, Halil Arbağ, Kaan Yılmaz and Berdan Bora Akkaya, who were tried in detention, were released. The court left the case to April 6.
All of the defendants attended the hearing. The four detained students were brought from İzmir Şakran Prison. Due to the small size of the courtroom, the hearing was held in the hall of the 12th High Criminal Court.
“We did not chant slogans containing insult”
In their defense statements, the detained students said that they participated in the protest but did not chant slogans containing insult. Stating that they could not take exams due to their detention, the students said they suffered academic victimization and requested acquittal.
One of the defendants’ lawyers, Şule Hızal, stated that the footage taken by law enforcement was obtained unlawfully and requested that it be removed from the file.
Some defendants who are tried without detention stated that police officers whom they alleged treated them badly during detention were present in the courtroom and requested that they be removed. The court did not accept this request. The defendants argued that the slogans chanted did not constitute a crime.
Defense lawyers also stated that the slogans did not have the quality of insult and requested acquittal.
The hearing prosecutor requested the punishment of all defendants. The court accepted the defense’s request for time against the opinion on the merits and adjourned the hearing to April 6.
Before the hearing, Republican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy Chair responsible for Legal Policies Gökçe Gökçen, CHP İzmir Member of Parliament Yüksel Taşkın and CHP İzmir Deputy Provincial Chair Murat Aydın made a statement in front of the courthouse.
Gökçen stated that implementing Constitutional Court decisions is not a crime and said, “Implementing Constitutional Court decisions is not a crime. On the contrary, not implementing these decisions is a crime.”
Taşkın stated that he visited the detained students in prison and said, “The place of these young people is universities.”
Call from rights defenders
Making a statement on behalf of the institutions after the hearing, Lawyer Beydağ Tıraş Öner argued that fundamental rights and freedoms were violated during the protest process. Öner requested that the case be dropped and that an effective investigation be conducted against public officials who were alleged to have committed rights violations during the protests.
