Lawyers say prolonged detention of LGBTI+ activists has become ‘de facto hostage-taking’

Lawyers representing detained executives of the LGBTI+ rights group Kaos GL, rights advocates and a journalist have called for their immediate release, saying no concrete evidence has been presented more than 40 days after their arrests and prosecutors have yet to prepare an indictment.

The lawyers held a press conference today at the Ankara branch of the Human Rights Association (İHD), addressing the investigation launched under an operation named “My Family Is Safe” on Sep 12.

Reading a statement on behalf of Kaos GL’s legal team, lawyer Kerem Dikmen said the continued detention of his clients had ceased to serve as a legal precaution and had effectively become a form of punishment.

‘Journalistic activities used as grounds for prosecution’

Police raided Kaos GL’s Ankara office in the early hours of Sep 13, seizing computers and detaining regular and alternate members of the association’s executive and supervisory boards.

While alternate board members were released under judicial supervision, the serving members of both boards were placed in pretrial detention.

LGBTI+ rights advocates Janset Kalan, Nedime Erdoğan, Umut Derin, Selin Berghan, Burçin and Metin, along with journalist Tuğba Tekerek, have been held at Sincan Prison for more than a month.

According to their lawyers, news articles and other content published on Kaos GL’s social media accounts were cited as grounds for the arrests.

During police questioning, the detainees were asked about the association’s Instagram posts, its lawful funding sources and journalistic activities, the lawyers said.

They also noted that the digital platforms containing the material cited in the investigation had been inaccessible from Turkey for more than a year and a half. This restriction was acknowledged in an investigative report included in the case file, they said.

The lawyers suggested that law enforcement officers had accessed the material using virtual private networks (VPNs).

“We are facing the criminalization of LGBTI+ existence under the guise of obscenity,” the statement said.

‘Detained despite legal restrictions on pretrial detention’

The lawyers argued that the charges against their clients did not meet the legal requirements for pretrial detention.

They pointed to Article 226 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), which provides prison sentences ranging from six months to two years for obscenity offenses. They maintained that the applicable sentencing range legally precluded pretrial detention.

Citing Article 32 of the Associations Law and the principle of individual criminal responsibility, the lawyers also argued that membership on an association’s executive or supervisory board did not, in itself, establish criminal liability:

“Pretrial detention is not a punishment. Despite the absence of any evidence of a crime, our clients are being subjected in advance to a deprivation of liberty that they might not even face in practice if convicted.

“This is not a preventive measure, but punishment under the guise of pretrial detention. This prolonged detention without an indictment has turned into a de facto hostage-taking practice.”

Allegations of isolation, strip searches and mistreatment

The lawyers also raised allegations of rights violations at the Sincan Prison Complex, including solitary confinement, restrictions on access to medical care and mistreatment.

They said requests by the detainees to be housed together had been rejected and that some had been held in isolation for days.

Transgender activists had also faced restrictions or delays in accessing hormone therapy and essential health care, according to the statement.

Three detainees were transferred to another prison within the same complex because their safety could not be guaranteed, the lawyers said.

They further alleged that one client had been subjected to a strip search under medical supervision at the prison where they were initially held. Three others were allegedly threatened and verbally abused by prison officers.

The lawyers also reported violations during the investigation, saying their clients had been forcibly taken for blood and urine tests without their attorneys being notified.

They argued that the examination of their clients’ phone contents and personal photographs constituted violations of their right to privacy.

Lawyers call for charges to be dropped

The legal team emphasized that Kaos GL has worked in the field of human rights for 32 years and argued that treating its lawful activities as criminal conduct violated freedom of association.

Describing the operation as politically motivated, the lawyers said the arrests had resulted in violations of the rights to liberty and security, freedom of expression and the press, freedom of association and the presumption of innocence.

They called on prosecutors to drop the allegations and issue a decision not to prosecute. Alternatively, they demanded that an indictment be prepared immediately to allow their clients to exercise their right to a defense, and that the detainees be released.

The statement concluded:

“Where the law recognizes no limits, no one’s freedom is guaranteed. We demand that these baseless allegations be dropped immediately and that the prosecutor’s office issue a decision not to prosecute. Failing that, we demand, at the very least, that an indictment be prepared immediately, that our clients be granted the right to defend themselves and that they be released.”

(NÖ/VK)