All Defendants Freed in Child Rape Trial

Lawyer Yalcindag, Human Rights Association chair, criticized the court decision to free 22 defendants charged with raping 13-year-old N.C., pending the outcome of the trial. He said they would object to the decision and closely follow the developments.

Mardin

A Mardin court continued to try 29 people accused of raping the 13-year-old N.C.

The 21 lawyers of N.C., her father Suleyman C, a social services expert from the Mardin Foundation for Protecting the Children, the defendants and defendant lawyers attended the hearing.

The court decided to free 22 defendants pending the outcome of the trial. The court said the 22 defendants could not be kept under arrest because of "lack of evidence."

Six other defendants were freed during the previous hearing. A separate trial, in which sergeant Azad Aydin is being charged with raping N.C., will be held on May 21.

"There is no new evidence or development to change the defendants' situation," said Yalcindag, one of N.C.'s lawyers. "But still, the defendants were freed."

"This incident is not just the victimization of a 13-year-old girl. Rape is a crime against humanity," Yalcindag added. He said they would object the decision to free the defendants pending the outcome of the trial.

Yalcindag underlined that the decision to free the defendants did not mean that they would be acquitted as a result of the trial. "We will be following this case till the end so that there is a just decision. and there is a permanent trust in society," said Yalcindag. (BB/EA/NM)