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Turkey: METU Pride Parade case has been postponed to 30 April!

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Turkish court postpones trial of 19 Pride attendees, infringing their right to fair judicial process

The Turkish courts’ postponement until next April of the trial of 19 people accused of “unlawful assembly” after taking part in an LGBTI Pride march last year is clearly infringing their right to a fair trial, and sending a worrying signal from the judiciary, says ILGA-Europe.

During the hearing, all the defendants gave testimonies explaining how this trial is a cloud over their heads which negatively impacts their everyday lives. The trial has lasted one and a half years so far, and has affected them personally, academically, and professionally. This further postponement to 30 April 2021 means that the defendants will have been under this pressure for almost two years, and they argue that this constitutes a violation of their human rights.


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METU Pride Parade case has been postponed to 30 April!

Since December 10, 1948, the day the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted, December 10 has been celebrated as the World Human Rights Day. This year, this day has another meaning: The 4th hearing of the METU LGBTI + Pride Walk case was held today.

At the hearing held at the Ankara 39th Criminal Court of First Instance, the case was adjourned once again. Today's hearing was expected to be a verdict, but the case was postponed to 30 April 2021 due to the prosecutor's failure to prepare the opinion.

On the social media account of the Ünikuir Association, the decision of the METU Pride Parade case was not intentionally announced on 10 December Human Rights Day. He criticized the lawlessnesses made, trying to hide ”.

Representatives from the embassies of Ireland, the USA, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as Amnesty International followed the hearing. Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) İstanbul MP ​​Züleyha Gülüm, HDP İzmir MP Murat Çepni and Republican People's Party (CHP) İstanbul MP ​​Sera Kadıgil were among those who followed the hearing.

A limited number of viewers were taken to the hall due to pandemic measures. Ünikuir criticized this situation on his social media account as follows:

“While international observers were reported months ago, when there were 18 defendants and dozens of lawyers, even the normal hall was not sufficient, and the request for the big hall was rejected. Observers and defendants take turns. They are trying to hide the lawlessness! "

Ünikuir Association made a statement criticizing the adjournment of the case once again after the hearing. The association continued by saying, "We know that this decision is political, and that it was taken to undermine the international solidarity created for this trial where LGBTI + activists were tried on Human Rights Day."

“Today, the METU Pride Walk case, which has been going on for a year and a half, has been held. The expected decision was not taken regarding the LGBTI + activists who were tried on the Human Rights Day, the students and 1 academician participating in the Pride Parade. Pride March, one of our most fundamental rights banned since 2015 and attacked by the police, was put on trial today in this courtroom, on Human Rights Day, and unfortunately the trial was postponed again. We know that this decision was political, and it was taken to undermine the international solidarity created for this case where LGBTI + activists were tried on Human Rights Day. While there was already a violation of rights by attacking the METU Pride Parade, we witnessed that LGBTI + activists and the students who were there that day and continued their presence on the campus were put on trial after this violation. We are right, We have always expressed our commitment to human rights and pointed out the unlawfulness of this case. Today, we can easily say this while leaving the courtroom without a decision.


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