Court acquits two children detained during İstanbul Pride March

Photo: csgorselarsiv/Meltem Ulusoy

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Cases opened against those who attended the 19th İstanbul LGBTI+ Pride March last year continue.

Today (May 10), the İstanbul 4th Juvenile Court acquitted two children who were detained during the demonstration, Kaos GL reported.

The children who were charged with attending an illegal demonstration and not dispersing despite warnings have been acquitted in the first hearing.

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İkbal Aslanbaş, an attorney for the children, said the pride march was not illegal, citing the right to hold gatherings and demonstrations.

"Even if the ban was valid, there was a disproportionate police response," he said, noting that the demonstrators, lawyers and MPs were battered and many people were detained without warning.

Recently, eight people from the LGBTIQ+ Assemblies and three people who were detained in Cihangir were acquitted. So far, three of the six cases that were opened against 40 out of the 47 people who had been detained during the İstanbul Pride Week have ended in acquittal, according to Kaos GL. (EMK/VK)