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Working at Department of History, Van Yüzüncü Yıl University, academic member named Ö.O. has been fined on charges of insult and petty threat against S.K. with whom he had a romantic relationship at the time he was working as research follow at Eskişehir Anadolu University, where S.K. was a graduate student. Unjust provocation terms weren’t applied for Ö.O.
Reminding that the defendant defended himself by saying that he is a person who “has spent his whole life for school and books”, S.K.’s lawyer Fatma Ceren Şahin said:
“During the judicial period, the defendant tried to defend himself by hiding under his academic identity. He stressed how he mingles with books, he wasn’t ill-intended and he was an academic. He thinks that he can elude his actions of imposing psychological and physical violence on a woman with his academic career and the books he read.
“Even though it may seem like a petty case of insult and threat at first glance, I believe that my client S.K., who has bravely pursued the case despite all the trauma, should be an example to all women. I’d like to note that the sanction power of such penalties imposed on men, who don’t treat equally to women and don’t refrain themselves from imposing violence on women, is greater than thought”.
She broke off the engagement, he started to text “I will end your education life”
Attorney Şahin has recounted that S.K., who was in a relationship with Ö.O., consented to getting engaged with Ö.O. as a result of his threats. However, the psychological and physical violence inflicted by Ö.O. caused S.K. to leave her graduate studies and to suffer from many psychological disorders. After a little while, S.K. broke off the engagement and ended her relationship with Ö.O.
After the engagement was broken off, Ö.O. started to threaten the woman with messages. In the messages, he used threatening statements such as “If you think that we will get even with one or two slaps [in the face], be sure that very bad things will happen”, “I will tell your infamies to the whole school”, “I will end your education life”, “You consider yourself chaste because you are not licensed*”, “I will remind you that you and I, we will all need the justice of caliph Umar**.”
In the lawsuit filed upon the complaint of S.K., Ö.O. defended himself by claiming that he is “somebody who has never engaged in a fight and is trying to dedicate his whole life to school and books.”
Eskişehir 7th Criminal Court of First Instance has brought in a verdict of guilty for Ö.O. on charges of petty threat and insult. The court has also ruled for the deferment of the announcement of the verdict, which has been changed into a fine of 2,700 Turkish lira. (ÇT/TK/SD)
* It is a derogatory word used to describe “a woman who holds an official permit to work as a sex worker” (Source: Turkish Language Association)
** Umar (also spelled Omar) was an expert Muslim jurist known for his pious and just nature, which earned him the epithet Al-Farooq ("the one who distinguishes (between right and wrong)")
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