04/08/2025 | Writer: Kaos GL
Following the lawsuit filed over the 2022 METU Pride March this time a lawsuit was also filed years later over the 2023 METU Pride March. The first hearing of the trial in which 17 students will be tried will be held on December 16, 2025.
In 2023, a lawsuit was filed two years after the Pride March held at METU. Seventeen students who attended the Pride March on June 9, 2023, will be tried for “Participating in Unlawful Meetings and Marches Without Arms and Failing to Disperse on Their Own Despite Warning.”
According to the news on ÜniKuir, actions such as “walking towards the library entrance,” “holding hands,” and “displaying an uncommunicative attitude” were considered crimes in the indictment. The indictment also claimed that the students “sabotaged the education of students studying in the library.”
According to the indictment, slogans such as “Jin Jiyan Azadi,” “Universities Are Ours and Will Remain Ours,” “Life Wins Against Hate,” and “Don’t Stay Silent, Shout, Lubunyas Exist” were also listed as “unlawful acts.”
The first hearing of the trial will take place on Monday, December 16, 2025, at 13:30 at Ankara 50th Criminal Court of First Instance.
A lawsuit was also filed three years after the 2022 METU Pride March
In May, a lawsuit was also filed three years after the 2022 METU Pride March. In the indictment, it was stated that law enforcement officers warned the students who carried “LGBTIA+ representative flags” and chanted slogans; however, they continued the march despite the warning. Among the mentioned slogans were “Where are you my love? I’m here my love! / Don’t stay silent, Shout, Lubunyas Exist!”
The first hearing of the trial was held on July 17, and the defendants described the torture they experienced.
Click – 2022 METU Pride March trial: Defendants described the torture
What happened?
On the day of the march, students faced police violence. Police attacked students with shields, batons, plastic bullets, and pepper spray. Initially, 6 students were detained, and after the march ended, 9 more students who were waiting for a taxi to leave the campus were also detained.
A total of 17 students were held in custody for 11 hours; medical examinations of 12 students revealed abrasions, hyperemia, and various redness on different parts of their bodies. Two students were referred to another hospital for further examination due to police violence.
Tags: human rights, trans, lgbti
