“being on trial without having committed any crime”

The final hearing of the case against 69 people, who were detained and tortured for participating in the Pride march at Boğaziçi University on 20 May 2022, known as the ‘Boğaziçi Pride Case,’ will be held on the 25^th of October at Istanbul Justice Palace.

At the 5^th of April hearing, the prosecutor requested that 69 students be sentenced for “taking part in an illegal march and failing to disperse despite being warned,” and two students for “resisting in order to prevent the officers from performing their duty.”

We have been following the case of the students detained for gathering at the Pride march at Boğaziçi University since the first hearing. In order to understand their perspectives on the case, we interviewed three students. In the first of those interviews, our guest is Eren.

How did you decide to join the 9th Boğaziçi Pride March?

I participated in the demonstration to raise awareness about the fundamental rights and freedoms of LGBT+ people in Turkey by exercising my constitutional right. My participation was not motivated by the intent to harm any individual or organization. After all, where the demonstration took place was our own school campus. It was a safe space. I participated for this reason.

How did the day of the march go for you?

I think we had a pretty good demonstration until we were detained. The Private Security Unit tried to stop us, but we changed direction and kept marching. After the march ended, the police attacked. It was strange -attacking something that had already finished really disappointed me. But overall, it was a good day until the police intervened. I felt genuinely free and strong in our own campus. When the intervention happened, I did feel some tension. I was scared, but I also managed to stay relatively calm.

Why do you think the police attacked after the march had ended?

I think it was entirely being able to say, “We did this.” They were trying to assert psychological dominance, honestly. It’s very clear to me because there was no real danger that day. If their aim was to ensure safety, they could’ve waited for us to disperse. Instead, they encircled us and started pulling back people who were leaving. They were trying to intimidate us.

This intimidation is actually aimed at the wider society. We’re easy targets here, meaning the LGBTQ+ community. There’s very little public support and solidarity for LGBTQ+ rights.

How did the experience of being detained affect you?

They made us wait for three hours on campus, then another three hours at the Vatan Police Station. Before they let us go, they took us through the worst parts of the police station… It was all clearly meant to break us down psychologically. They handcuffed us behind our backs even though it wasn’t legal. What they did wasn’t legitimate. They didn’t announce before they detained us and just pulled us in. 

That was really bad, but beyond that, the whole thing was clearly a tactic of intimidation. There was no legal basis for it, and I knew that. I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong, yet I still felt tense. Some of my friends had panic attacks. We weren’t allowed water, and we couldn’t use the bathroom for a long time. In the end, it was stressful, but I went through the detention process fully aware of their attempts to intimidate us.

How have these intimidation tactics affected you?

I’ve felt the need to protest in spaces where I feel safer. Yes, I do protect myself more against the risk of being detained, but that hasn’t affected my freedom of expression or my will to protest. Being detained isn’t going to stop me. I’ve participated in other protests since then. My biggest motivation is still the desire to live freely and safely in my own country.

What are your thoughts on a lawsuit being filed?

The fact that a lawsuit has been filed has made me a little more anxious, but the support I have from people both within and outside the university has been important to me. Of course, I have concerns about the process and the potential penalties. It’s my first time appearing in court and I feel like I’m facing the absurdity of being on trial without having committed any crime. I kept thinking, “Why am I even here? We didn’t commit any crime, so there’s no reason for us to be here.”

If I go into more detail about the trial process, both the judge and the prosecutor weren’t really listening to us. It was a serious situation, but they didn’t seem to care. The students who were detained gave really strong defenses, but they weren’t properly heard.

What do you think will be the outcome of the trial?

As for myself, I think I might be acquitted, but I’m not certain. I don’t believe any penalty -unless it’s very severe- would significantly change my life. Would it affect me psychologically? I’m not sure. Would it make me feel less secure? Probably. Would it break my will? I don’t think so. But of course, if there are no penalties, it would be a relief.