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Update on the Closing Case of Lambdaistanbul LGBT Solidarity Association The third hearing of the case which was opened last summer to shut down Lambdaistanbul was held on 31st of January, 2008 in Istanbul. Due to the fact that the expert report didn't arrive, the hearing was postponed to March 6th, 2008. On the second hearing, the judge had assigned an expert, specialized in the Civil Code, to write a report on the case.
Istanbul City Government had applied the
prosecutor for a court case to be opened, claiming that the words
"lesbian", "gay", "bisexual", "transvestite" and "transsexual" and the
aim of the association were against general morality and the turkish
family values. There is no
law in Turkey defining being LGBT as a crime. Despite two reports from
two different prosecutors, stating that there was no need for a case,
emphasizing the freedom of expression and organization, guaranteed by
various turkish and universal laws undersigned by
A group of about 40 Lambdaistanbul supporters was present at the court in order to show solidarity, as well as a few members of the press. The police searched the Lambda supporters arbitrarily, after they have entered the building, while waiting outside the courtroom. They said they did this due to the fact that an international observer had taken pictures during the second hearing. The lawyers objected to the search with no avail. Then, during the hearing, the judge claimed that a crowded group had done a demonstration, opened banners, forcing the windows and the doors and showed resistance to the police and asked the lawyers to warn the members of the association. The lawyers tried to explain to the judge that there has been no such thing, and if there had been, that the prosecutor and the police were present and that they would have interfered and kept a record of this, yet there was no such document. But the judge insisted on his claim and said that this was considered influencing the jurisdiction and therefore was a crime.
So, overall, we can say that the commonplace homo/transphobia took place at the court again. The next hearing on March 6th may or may not be the last one. We, as Lambdaistanbul will be watching the trial process closely and if the result is not in favor of the association, we will appeal the case as far as we can until justice is done.
We'd like to take this opportunity to thank you all for support and solidarity during this process. We really appreciate your support messages.
Lambdaistanbul LGBT Solidarity Association
http://www.lambdais
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