Court Rules to Release Suspects Accused of Raping a Minor

A court ruled to release 19 suspects accused of raping 14 year old Ö.C. in the northwestern province of Sakarya, while it also issued an arrest warrant for four other suspects who did not attend the trial. The next hearing of the case is scheduled for Nov. 22.

The 19 suspects had been arrested pending trial before the court decided to release them, and they stand among a total of 34 defendants facing charges in the case.

The court also banned the 19 suspects from travelling abroad and placed them on probation. They will thus visit the police station once a week to sign relevant documents.

A police officer was also among the suspects, but he has already fled the country before the start of the trial.

"We were not terribly upset by the [court's decision to] release the kids because they were children who were swept into crime. We are sorry, however, that the [court] did not initiate any proceedings against the suspect police officer," Müşir Deliduman from the Istanbul branch of the Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD) told bianet.

Deliduman said the rhetoric and the attitude of the suspects' acquaintances toward the women's organizations who were keeping watch before the courthouse to show their solidarity with Ö.C. resembled "an attempt at lynching."

Deliduman also added that the defendant lawyers had asked them what business they had there, coming all the way from Istanbul.

"We are a law organization. We said we were here in compliance with the United Nations' (UN) provisions on the protection of children's rights and the CEDAW (the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.) At the end of the day, this case involves a child victim and suspect minors who were swept into crime. Moreover, the suspects also include a high ranking police officer," Deliduman said.

Trial records altered and incomplete

Nihat Nalbantoğlu, the head of the Sakarya Bar Association, also served as a defendant lawyer in the hearing, according to reports.

Mustafa İlker Gürkan, the head of the Bar Association in the southwestern province of Muğla, had also represented the defendants in a mass rape case in a similar trial in the district of Fethiye, and the court had subsequently acquitted eight suspects which also included civil servants.

Lawyer Ömer Kavili also said after he watched the suit that the trail records of the conversations in court were altered and incomplete:

"For instance, 'touching' includes slapping, which constitutes the offense of causing injury. Touching the genitals and kissing, however, constitute a sexual relationship, and if the victim is younger than 15 years of age, then the sentence automatically rises to 14-15 years. For that reason, it is very important for the conversations in court to be recorded thoroughly," he said.

The court decided to keep the suspects under arrest in the first of three indictments, but then it decided to merge the indictments into a single file, after which time it ruled to release them, Kavili said.

"The Turkish judiciary prefers wile over justice," he added.

Kavili also noted that the suspects' families had threatened the female lawyers during the trial recess. "Is it up to you to defend that girl? Think hard about what you are going to do. We do not want to see you here again, watch yourselves," they told the defendant lawyers, according to Kavili.

"The police are around, but they only keep watch inside the courthouse. The state is not living up to the international agreements it signed with respect to lawyers' working conditions," Kavili said.

"A manifestation of male-dominated culture and discrimination"

Gülvin Aydın and Naciye Demir from the ÇHD also attended the trial alongside with Deliduman.

The ÇHD intervened in the trial and petitioned the court to broaden the scope of the investigation on the grounds that the trial was not just limited to children and that it also included a police officer who had fled abroad.

"We wanted the investigation to be broadened and deepened because we suspect there could be certain people behind this," Deliduman said.

The ÇHD also filed a criminal complaint against the governor of Sakarya and the coroner judge on the grounds that the governor had failed to conduct an effective investigation despite the fact that the fugitive police officer used to occupy an administrative position.

"The coroner judge ruled to arrest the kids after questioning the suspects, but it released the police officer who is the most suspicious person in the whole affair, and the officer fled abroad. This is a dubious situation," Deliduman said.

"It seems this trial will also continue to serve as a manifestation of male-dominated culture and discrimination against women and children because the attitudes of the trial, the administration and the suspects' acquaintances were all in the same vein," he added.

Background

Authorities took 14 year old Ö.C. under protection in June, following allegations that she was sexually abused and raped by 34 people in Sakarya.

20 suspects between the ages of 14 and 19 were arrested pending trial, while two police officers from the Sakarya Police Headquarters were also among 14 more suspects who were put on trial without arrest. Officials detained one of the officers, a branch head, on the charge of "finding a place for sexual intercourse." The other officer was also taken under custody for "having sexual intercourse with a minor." Both officers were released after they testified, however, and one of them subsequently fled abroad.

Female journalists also penned a joint text to express their determination to follow through with the trial. (ÇT)