Attack on Stand for Hacettepe Queer Studies Community

A group of people who claimed to be the police attacked the stand opened to promote Hacettepe Queer Studies Community on campus.

Source: Gözde Demirbilek, “Hacettepe Kuir Araştırmaları Topluluğu standına saldırı,” kaosGL.org, 25 April 2018, http://www.kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=25663

Today (25th of April) the Hacettepe Queer Studies Community opened a stand with the purpose of promoting their community. Around 10:30, the community’s stand was attacked by a group of 10-15 people.

The community quoted the attack to KaosGL.org as follows:

“The leader of the attacker group said they were the police of the campus and that our stand, which was opened with the permission of Health, Culture and Sport Directorate, wasn’t legal, as they tore down the publications brought by KaosGL and the rainbow flag. They walked over to us while taking our photos and filming us. We tried to record a video of the attack we were subjected to. The person who claimed to be a police officer told us “I will take your statements”. While this attack was taking place, the security guards came and told us that we had to stay behind our stand. Meanwhile, people around us were pointing at us.”

“Finally, an officer from the Health, Culture and Sport Directorate came and told us that we had to close down our stand. After closing the stand we separated for some time because the group of attackers broke into smaller groups and continued keeping us under surveillance.”

I experienced an attack, how can I file a complaint?

Lawyer Kerem Dikmen from Kaos GL, explains how one can file a complaint if they experienced an attack or were exposed to a hate crime:

The easiest way to use your right to complain is to approach the law enforcement officials and inform them of your complaint. In places like a village which are under Jandarma’s jurisdiction you can submit your complaint to the station of Jandarma and, in central areas, to the police station.

You have to apply to the station responsible for the area/district in which the incident took place. If your complaint is not accepted, that’s an offense committed by the law enforcement officer who rejects it. If such a situation occurs, the officer could be accused of negligence.

Another option is to apply for prosecution with a written a petition. It’s beneficial to take some precautions before going to the prosecutor’s office. First, if there is a risk for the attack to happen again because of filing a complaint, first make sure of your own safety. Second, it gets (increasingly) difficult to confirm the injuries on the body as time passes. For this reason, you have to take a medical report in which the injuries are confirmed; preferably from a state hospital and if not, from a private hospital. Third, if possible, verify the locations of any surveillance cameras that recorded you. These could be at a bank, a state building or a workplace, or the could be private cameras people place around their houses/apartment to safeguard their surroundings. Also, take notes of the names of people who were in that place and if possible, their contact information; this will be necessary when referring to witnesses in the future. Finally, if you have any text messages related to the incident on your phone, you must not erase them. You must include all these documents and information in the petition you submit to the prosecutor.

If the reason of the complaint is a threat, you should definitely inform the police station if possible, if not be sure to inform the public prosecutor. Even if this can’t save you from any further physical harm by the attacker, the possible consequences may stop the attacker from carrying out the attack.

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