University student Esila Ayık was released from pretrial detention yesterday following her arrest for “insulting the president” due to holding a sign during a Apr 8 protest that read “dictator Erdoğan.”
Ayık, along with two other students, Arda Öğüşlü and Mehmet Efe Erdoğan, was indicted on May 13, facing up to four years and eight months in prison.
Despite suffering from chronic heart and kidney issues and being hospitalized on Apr 23 due to a deteriorating health condition, Ayık’s appeals for her release were previously rejected.
Media coverage of yesterday’s hearing was also restricted, with only reporters from the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) and the ANKA news agency were allowed in the courtroom, as reported by the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA).
In her statement during the hearing, Ayık said the event in question was a solidarity concert and she, as a photography student, visited the event to take photographs, according to MLSA.
About the “dictator Erdoğan” she held during the event, Ayık said, “I picked up a placard I found there and someone else took my photo. I don't know the person who handed it to me, it was a masked person. The placard didn't stay in my hand even for 5 minutes. If I knew it was a crime, I wouldn't have done such a thing.”
She further said she couldn’t attend her exams during her time behind bars and demanded her release citing her health condition.
The İstanbul 77th Penal Court of First Instance released the three individuals despite the prosecutor requesting their continued detention.
'Hard to celebrate'
“I never lost hope in justice,” Ayık said upon her release. “We young people must continue to dream.”
Her father, Kemal Ayık, remarked, “I’m happy she’s free, but it’s hard to celebrate when so many other families are waiting for the state to stop panicking over cardboard signs,” referring to dozens of students in pretrial detention following the countrywide protests in March in response to the detention of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a prominent opposition figure.
Ayık was detained on Apr 9, one day after she participated in the “Youth Solidarity Stage” protest in İstanbul’s Kadıköy district. The event, which drew thousands of students, who had called for the release of hundreds of young people detained in the protests.
Over 100 youths released after mass arrests during İmamoğlu protests
(VK)
