June 27, 2024
During the trial of 71 Boğaziçi University students detained for protesting against appointed rectors, the judge reprimanded a police witness for not recalling the events. The trial, centered on an October 22, 2021 incident where police intervened in a protest tent on campus, continued at the Istanbul 27th Criminal Court of First Instance.
The fifth hearing of the case saw students charged under Law No. 2911 for "violating the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations." Lawyers from the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) were part of the defense team, representing students M.Ü. and D.D.
With a new judge presiding, previous records were reviewed. Two police officers testified as witnesses, starting with D.Ç., who claimed not to remember the events due to the passage of time. The judge, incredulous, asked, “Do you not remember what all of Turkey remembers?” D.Ç. reiterated his lack of recollection, stating that he acted on his superiors’ orders during a large-scale intervention and that senior officers handled the records.
The second witness, officer R.Z., provided similar testimony, also claiming a lack of specific memory regarding the incident.
The court decided to hear testimony from two more police officers and ordered the forced attendance of defendant A.A. The trial was adjourned to December 24, 2024, at 9:00 a.m.
Background on the case
On October 22, 2021, security officers at Boğaziçi University, acting on the orders of appointed rector Naci İnci, dismantled a tent set up by students protesting against the administration. When students continued their sit-in protest in front of the rector’s office, police entered the campus and detained them.
The trial began on April 22, 2022, with students facing charges under Law No. 2911. On October 21, 2022, during the second hearing, the case was combined with another involving 26 Boğaziçi students, bringing the total number of defendants to 71.
