Investigation Against Diyarbakır Bar Association for ‘Degrading Religious Values’

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Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation against the executives of Diyarbakır Bar over their statement on President of Religious Affairs' targeting remarks about LGBTI+ people.

Diyarbakır Bar denounced Erbaş's hate speech

The Diyarbakır Bar previously issued a statement entitled "Press Release Regarding the Hate Speech of President of Religious Affairs Ali Erbaş."

The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office of Diyarbakır has launched an investigation against Diyarbakır Bar executives over this statement on the ground that they degraded the religious values adopted by a certain section of the society as per the Article 216/3 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).

The Article 216/3 of the TCK stipulates the following: "A person who publicly degrades the religious values of a section of the public shall be sentenced to a penalty of imprisonment for a term of six months to one year, where the act is capable of disturbing public peace."

What happened?

In his Friday sermon (khutbah) on April 24, President of Religious Affairs Ali Erbaş targeted LGBTI+s and the ones living with HIV.

Erbaş briefly stated the following:

"People! Islam accepts adultery as one of the greatest harams. It curses the people of Lot, the homosexuality. What is the wisdom of this? The wisdom here is that it brings diseases and degenerates the generation. Hundreds of thousands of people a year are exposed to the HIV virus caused by this great haram, which passes as adultery in the Islamic Literature. Let's come and fight together to protect people from this kind of evil."

Several rights organizations, politicians and bar associations condemned these remarks. Both Ankara Bar Association and Human Rights Association (İHD) filed a criminal complaint against Erbaş.

Noting that Erbaş spread hate with his statements, Ankara Bar warned that "if Erbaş remained in office despite his remarks about LGBTI+s, women and children, no one should be surprised if, in his next speech, he called on people to light torches and burn women as witches at the squares."

The Bar also argued that with his statements, Ali Erbaş, "whose voice was coming from ages ago, incited the public to enmity and hatred by presiding over a state institution and building his discourse on values held sacred."

In response to this statement, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation against Ankara Bar Association yesterday (April 27). The Presidency of Religious Affairs also filed a criminal complaint against its executives on the same day. (EMK/SD)