14/08/2025 | Writer: Kaos GL
The trial date has been set for youth delegate and ÜniKuir staff member Enes Hocaoğulları, who was arrested over a speech delivered at the Council of Europe. His first hearing will take place on September 8 at 11:55 a.m. before the Ankara 86th Criminal Court of First Instance.
Enes Hocaoğulları, who serves as Turkey’s youth delegate to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe and works with ÜniKuir, was detained on August 5 upon arrival at Ankara Esenboğa Airport and was arrested later the same day.
The indictment against Hocaoğulları charges him with “publicly disseminating misleading information” and “inciting hatred and enmity” over his speech at the Council of Europe.
In April, during his mandate as a youth delegate, Hocaoğulları delivered a speech at the Council of Europe in which he addressed the aftermath of the March 19 protests and related human rights violations. The speech later became the basis for social media targeting and, ultimately, for the charges against him.
The prosecutor claimed that referring to rights violations reported in the press and in human rights reports amounted to sharing “misleading information aimed at causing division within society, setting certain groups against each other, disturbing public peace, undermining the environment of safety and security, and targeting the country’s reputation.” The prosecutor also argued that the speech constituted “public incitement to hatred and enmity against a segment of the population.”
The Ankara 86th Criminal Court of First Instance accepted the indictment, opening a trial against Hocaoğulları on the above charges. The first hearing is scheduled for September 8 at 11:55 a.m.
Tags: human rights
