In Tarsus district of Mersin province, first session of Özgecan Aslan’s murder trial has started today.
At 10:10 accusation was read. Defenses were listened.
At 10:00 the trial started at 9:20 in Tarsus 1st High criminal Court. Even though a thousand lawyers applied for participation, only a hundred of them were allowed to enter the hearing room.
For security reasons, there will be no more trials in the court during the day. The defendants A.S.A, his father N.A and his friend F.G are present. No lawyers wanted to defend the defendants. Bar association had to assign a lawyer for them. Accusation has been read from tape recording.
At 09:00 many women organizations from all of the country came to Mersin. Turkey's Bar Association Women's Right Commission, bar associations and their women' rights commission from different cities will attend the trial. 1000 lawyers demanded to Mersin Bar Association to be intervener.
At the morning hours, many women platforms and organizations made a press statement with Özgecan Aslan's pictures in their hands and said "No abatement of punishment for women's killers, "Özgecan's killers will answer."
What happened?
On February 11, 2015, in Mersin province, minibus driver A.S.A (26) tried to rape passenger Özgecan Aslan in his minibus. Upon resistance of Aslan, A.S.A killed the woman and with the help of his father N.A. (50), his friend F.G. (20), he burned the dead body of the deceased in an isolated are after cutting Aslan’s hand off in order not to leave DNA sample.
The prosecutor Ayhan Akyol requested aggravated life imprisonment for three murder suspects for “monstrously torturing to death, attempting to qualified sexual assault and taking the right to life away by sexual intercourse”
Men killed 120 women in 2015
According to bianet’s tally, men killed 26 women and a girl; raped 7 women; forced a woman to prostitution; injured 27 women; harassed 31 women and girls in May.
In first five months of 2015, men killed 120 women, raped 49 women, forced 103 women to prostitution, injured 168 women and harassed 127 women. (NV/BD)
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