Lawsuit Against 19 METU Students for Joining Pride Parade

* After the students detained during Pride Parade were released. Yıldız Tar/Kaos GL

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

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.

(SO/SD)