Male lawyer accuses the ‘harassed’ woman

"We will follow up harassment, sexual assault everywhere" (by csgorselarsiv/Şehlem Kaçar)

Click to read the article in Turkish

"I wish that the court boards of such cases were composed of people who know what gender equality is. These court cases must not be heard in such a way to make the person talk over and over again about the harassment that she or he was subjected to.

"I wish the principle of 'woman's statement is essential' was applied here. It was really difficult to prove myself. But I am strong. I will do it.

"It is as if I am fighting against windmills. But I will not step back from my case. I want the culprit to get the necessary sentence."

The man who harassed teacher G.E. by taking her picture on a plane from Barcelona to İstanbul in March 2019 appeared before the judge at the İstanbul Anadolu 5th Penal Court of First Instance in Kartal. Aylin Mert, the attorney of G.E., and the man's attorney attended the hearing.

'The attorney blamed the victim'

Speaking about the hearing, G.E. has said:

"The witness was heard. It was a friend of mine I was travelling with. The person who first saw the man taking my picture told my friend about this, which makes it very important that s/he bore witness.

"S/he told what happened. It was a tense hearing. Because the attorney of the defendant tried to mislead my attorney with ridiculous questions.

"What the witness said was the following: When the suspect understood that he was noticed, he went to the plane's toilet and deleted the pictures on his phone. Afterwards, when he got out of the toilet after a long time, the cabin crew checked his phone, but could not find anything. Even though I was on the plane and while he should have been there as well, he got off.

"S/he (the witness) was the person who looked around and saw the suspect who had not yet passed the passport check. We handed him over to the police as well. The suspect changed his jacket. We could not notice him before for this reason. We hardly noticed him.

"When we informed the passport police about the incident, they detained the suspect. This friend of mine was with me at the police station as well. This witness was not the person who saw him taking my pictures, but the person who saw it told this to my friend, the witness.

"The attorney of the opposite party verbally attacked my friend at two points. He first asked how a person who had not yet picked up his luggage could change his jacket. As if he could not have a spare one in his cabin luggage...

"My friend was also asked why her/his statement was not requested if s/he had been a witness to the incident. In fact, we had a witness of the first degree, we did not need her/his to be a witness in that process.

"The attorney also asked questions that would not affect the course of the trial. Unable to get any results, he made the following accusation: 'They are protecting one another because they are colleagues.'

"The attorney alleged that we fabricated a story, claiming that we made it up. He argued that we were trying to form an opinion based on the evidence that we talked about. He accused me."

'My client's psychology was not considered'

Attorney Aylin Mert has also stated the following:

"It is very hard for a woman to talk about harassment. While it is hard even to talk about it and to try to prove it, one cannot speak without considering the psychology of my client as the aggrieved party. Such things need to be prevented. My client is fighting against windmills."

The court board is expected to give its ruling at the hearing on June 29. (EMK/SD)