Lawsuit Against 19 METU Students for Joining Pride Parade
* After the students detained during Pride Parade were released. Yıldız Tar/Kaos GL
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Having joined the 9th LGBTI+ Pride Parade at Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara on May 10, 2019, 19 students will stand trial in their first hearing on November 12, 2019.
The students are facing the charges of "attending unlawful assemblies and marches" and "failure to disperse by themselves despite being warned."
A few days before the 9th LGBTI+ Pride Parade, METU President Verşan Kök sent an email to students, lecturers and alumni of the university, informing them that the parade would not be allowed.
Indicating that the ban imposed on all LGBTI+ events in the capital city was still in effect, Kök also stated that they consulted with the Ankara Security Directorate units "so that necessary security measures could be taken."
Entering the university on the day of Pride Parade, police officers intervened against the students with plastic bullets, pepper spray and physical force. One lecturer and 21 students were detained on that day.
Özgür Gür, one of the 19 LGBTI+ rights defenders put on trial, has given his answer to the lawsuit filed against them on Twitter:
9. ODTÜ Onur Yürüyüşü ile alakalı davanın iddianamesi kabul edildi, duruşma günü belli oldu. Geliyoruz aşkım, onurumuzla yürüyerek geliyoruz adliyeye.#HerYürüyüşümüzOnurYürüyüşü pic.twitter.com/v0DpdTtO2J
— Özgür Gür (@ozgurgurgurgur) August 7, 2019
"The indictment pertaining to the 9th METU Pride Parade has been accepted, the date of trial has been determined. We are coming my love, we are coming to the courthouse, parading with our pride. Every parade of ours is a pride parade", Gür has said on his Twitter account.
About METU LGBTI+ SolidarityIt was founded in 1996 with the aim of establishing gender equality, struggling against LGBTI+phobia and making the METU campus safe for LGBTI+ individuals. For the last years, several LGBTI+ events planned to be held at METU have been prevented by the university presidency by either cutting the electricity of the buildings in question or inviting the police to the campus. The METU Presidency has also launched administrative investigations against the students organizing these events. Still, METU campus has been hosting LGBTI+ Pride Parades since 2011. |
(SO/SD)