14 students arrested in Saraçhane protests released

14 students who were detained during the Saraçhane protests and tried on charges of “insulting the president” were released.

The first hearing of the case in which 16 young people, 14 of whom are under arrest, were tried on charges of “insulting the president” and were detained during protests in support of CHP’s presidential candidate and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, was held.

14 students were released at the hearing held today at the Istanbul 40th Criminal Court of First Instance.

The hearing was watched by CHP Istanbul Provincial Chair Özgür Çelik, CHP Trabzon Deputy Lawyer Sibel Suiçmez, İYİ Party Bursa Deputy Yüksel Selçuk Türkoğlu, CHP Istanbul Provincial Women's Branch Chair Hatice Selli Dursun, Istanbul Bar Association lawyers and many citizens.

Their families welcomed their children with applause. The hearing began with identification. The defendants' lawyers demanded that the images included in the file as evidence were obtained illegally and that they were able to see them 53 days later, and that they be removed from the file.

The defendants' lawyers said, "The evidence should be removed from the file. There is no information on how the images were obtained. These images are unlawful evidence because they were not taken by law enforcement. These images should be removed from the file and should not be accepted as evidence."

The court rejected the request.

The first to defend herself was student Ayşe Kayacı. Kayacı said, “I think I will be fired from where I work. Unfortunately, approximately 70 days have passed from our lives.”

Student Berkay Ay said, “We were not aware of the Governor’s ban on protests during this process. We were in the area for a very short time. We lost each other when there was a fight between the police and the group. I have been unjustly detained for 68 days. The person in the photo shown to me as evidence is not me.”

Yiğitcan Çepniler, who made his defense, said, “I went to the rally area with my cousin Berkay Ay. He was having a panic attack. I tried to get him out of there in the healthiest way possible. I took refuge in the nearest riot police teams and they detained us.”

The defense of young Burak Yıldız is as follows:

“After a certain point, we heard slogans near the walls. If you pay attention to the person in the video that is claimed to be me, that person is not me. That person does not look like me either. I did not swear at anyone. I am sad to be here. I have been away from my family for months. There were times when we were left hungry, thrown into cells. We cannot bear the tears of our mothers. Whatever I did, I did it for the benefit of the Republic of Turkey.”

Burak Yıldız's lawyer Serap Sergin stated that she shared a very striking document for the first time during the hearing. Sergin stated that a warning letter was prepared to be given to the prison directorate during the Istanbul Bar Association's visits to the prison to see the conditions in which the children were being held. Sergin shared the following information:

“I have to share with you a warning letter from the Istanbul Bar Association, which visited the children’s ward. The document includes everything about the inmates’ prison conditions being against human rights. A visit was made to the institution and the institution director was also spoken to. It was seen that their beds and the toilet were side by side in the room. The children could not eat on the first day because there was a very strong sewage smell in the room. They were not provided with cleaning materials. They experienced health problems due to nausea. It was reported that they were afraid because there was not a single sound. They tried to keep each other awake all the time. They asked for their wards to be changed.”

After these words, the children's mothers could not hold back their tears and left the courtroom. A deep silence prevailed in the courtroom.

Mahsuni Kahrıman, one of the young people, said, “I did not commit the accusation against me. On the day of the incident, I went to break my fast with my nephew somewhere nearby. When we heard Özgür Özel’s voice, we went that way. Events broke out after the conversation. I have been unjustly detained for about 70 days, I demand my acquittal.”

Another young man, Eyüpcan Şahin, said, “I am responsible for taking care of my family. I left my workplace and went to Saraçhane out of curiosity. When things got tense, I wanted to leave. I waited on the Aksaray tram. They let me out by hitting my head against the window. I was subjected to violence and swearing. They said I would see how big the world is. We sat there handcuffed behind my back. They threatened me by saying ‘the process will be extended’ if you say these things. They would bring me with a bad sandwich in the detention center and would not let me go to the toilet.”

18-year-old Deniz Nurettin Oğuz said, “My lessons were affected. I couldn’t take my exams. Two of my chronic illnesses relapsed in prison. I had two attacks in prison. I was subjected to violence in custody. I was threatened not to say this. I was subjected to psychological threats. I did not insult our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.”

Nuri Arslan, one of the arrested young people from Izmir who did not even have a place to stay in Istanbul, made his defense by saying, “I am a child of this country. I am proud to be tried in the court of this country. We are also the children of the mothers sitting behind us. We did not deserve to go hungry for four days. We did not deserve to stay in prison for 68 days. I went to the protests alone. I did not shout slogans. I did not insult anyone.”

Oğuzcan Özcan, who denied any of the charges against him and said that he was arrested only for waving the Turkish flag, said, “I proudly raised that flag that day. If waving the Turkish flag is a crime, I accept this crime.” The judge responded by saying, “We are also loyal to our nation and our flag, that is not the reason for being arrested.”

Sami Ayberk Ünlü said, “My mother and father graduated from theology, I am a young Turkish man devoted to his country and nation. Even my sister’s name is Ayyıldız. I was waving the Turkish flag there. There is also a Turkish flag at the head of my bed in the ward. I go to sleep every night saying “Long live the country”. I do not accept the accusations. Even if they shouted slogans, I did not hear them, I had a gas mask on. There was an intervention from the police. They came, pushed me and took the flag from my hand by force.”

Semih Çağan, a graduate student in the Biology Department of Istanbul University, said in his defense, “I was conducting an experiment in the laboratory for my thesis research. I heard people’s voices saying ‘rights, law, justice’. Since I didn’t like the government’s management style, I wanted to go among them. I didn’t shout any offensive slogans. I went home from there. The police took me from my house. There were pictures of Atatürk and Turkish flags hanging all around our cell. We were executed without trial.”

YKS student Toprak Doğan said, “I was suddenly pepper sprayed and fell to the ground. They split the middle of my eyebrow, broke my nose and knocked me out, made me stand up again, handcuffed me again and beat me again. I did not cause any trouble but they did this despite that. I had been receiving rigorous training for about 8 months. I spent Mother’s Day away from my mother for the first time. I left an empty plate on the table during Ramadan Feast. I did not insult the President or engage in any illegal activity.”

Mehmet Ali Atagün, 24, who was tried without arrest and under judicial control measures, said, "I am a university student. I am in this case only because I stood by the group that insulted me."

The hall reacted by laughing. Another undetained defendant, İbrahim Taha Güler, said, “I did not commit a crime.”

The prosecutor, who announced his opinion after the defenses, requested the continuation of the defendants' detention and judicial control measures.

The court board decided to release the students.

The indictment for 16 young people, 14 of whom are under arrest, was prepared 45 days after the incident. The indictment demanded a prison sentence of 1 to 4 years for the 16 people for the crime of “insulting the president” under Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code.

The phrase in the indictment that the suspects' "standing next to the group chanting slogans containing insults against the president could be considered as an act of insulting the president" had attracted attention.