A court has acquitted 46 people who were detained during the Saturday Mothers/People’s 700th-week gathering in İstanbul’s Galatasaray Square in 2018. The defendants, including relatives of disappeared persons and human rights advocates, were charged with “participating in unlawful meetings and marches and refusing to disperse despite warnings.”
The İstanbul 21st Penal Court of First Instance ruled that the legal elements of the alleged offense were not met and acquitted all 46 defendants.
The court also rejected the prosecutor’s request to file a criminal complaint over claims that police officers were injured during the intervention, stating that an investigation could be launched ex officio if necessary.
Statement before the hearing
Before the hearing, rights advocates made a statement outside the courthouse. Speaking on behalf of the Human Rights Association’s (İHD) Commission Against Enforced Disappearances, Sebla Arcan recalled that participants faced severe police violence even before the gathering began.
Arcan also referred to previous Constitutional Court rulings that found bans on the Saturday Mothers’ demonstrations to be violations of rights. However, she noted that the restrictions continued despite these decisions.
"On Aug 25, 2018, before our 700th-week gathering had even begun, we were subjected to severe police violence and detained. Following this, an indictment prepared by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office’s Terror Crimes Investigation Bureau was accepted by the İstanbul 21st Criminal Court of First Instance, and on Nov 18, 2020, a lawsuit was filed against 46 detainees for ‘violating the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations.’ The first hearing of the trial was held on Mar 25, 2021.
"While the trial was ongoing, the Constitutional Court ruled in two separate cases, on Nov 16, 2022, in the case of Ocak Kışlakçı, and on Mar 29, 2023, in the case of Gülseren Yoleri—that the police interventions against the Saturday Mothers constituted rights violations. Despite this, the trial has continued, disregarding the Constitutional Court's decisions, when it should have been immediately dismissed with an acquittal."
What happened?
During the Saturday Mothers’ 700th-week gathering on Aug 25, 2018, police used rubber bullets and tear gas against the participants, detaining numerous participants, including relatives of disappeared persons. The detainees were released later the same day after giving their statements.
İHD İstanbul Branch President and lawyer Gülseren Yoleri later stated that the event had been “arbitrarily banned by the Beyoğlu District Governor’s Office with the knowledge of Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu.”
Following the crackdown, a lawsuit was filed against 46 people who had attended the gathering and experienced police violence.
About Saturday Mothers/People
The Saturday Mothers/People first gathered in Galatasaray Square in Beyoğlu, İstanbul, on May 27, 1995, to demand justice for individuals who disappeared while in state custody during the conflict in the country's Kurdish-populated regions. The protests began following the discovery of Hasan Ocak’s body in the Cemetery of the Nameless. Ocak had been taken into custody on Mar 21, 1995, and was later found dead, bearing signs of torture.
For the next several years, the group held weekly silent sit-ins at the square. However, after facing increasing police intervention, the protests were halted on Mar 13, 1999.
In 2009, the Saturday Mothers/People resumed their gatherings at Galatasaray Square, continuing their weekly protests until Aug 2018, when police intervened during their 700th sit-in. Officers used rubber bullets to disperse the crowd and detained several relatives of disappeared persons. The detainees were released after providing their statements later that day.
After the 2018 crackdown, authorities have not permitted the Saturday Mothers/People to assemble at Galatasaray Square for more than five years, until Nov 2023.
(RT/VK)
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