Turkey: Trial of gay rights group deemed unfounded

?There are no grounds to close the association down?, said court expert and lawyer Firat Soyle of the fifth hearing in the case against Turkish gay rights association Lambdaistanbul, accused of ?violating the moral values of the public? held last week.

The LGBTT (lesbian, bisexual, transvestite, transsexual) Solidarity Association has, since July last year, attended five court hearings at the Beyoglu 3rd Civil Court of First Instances but as of yet, no decision has been taken. The last two hearings had been postponed due to the failure of the court expert to prepare a report.

?This suit should never have been filed,? said the association in a statement before the hearing. ?Otherwise the judge would have decided, in the very first hearing, either for or against the closing down of the association. This suit is a stain on our justice system.? The association also expressed the hope that today?s hearing would be the last.
?We told the court, as it states on the expert report, that the trial should come to an end,? said Soyle, who is the association?s lawyer at the trial. ?However, the prosecutor stated that he had not yet read the expert report and asked for additional time. But he could just have read the conclusion section.? Soyle stated that the judge accepted the prosecutor?s request and postponed the hearing.

?The judge threw the file onto the judicial bench after announcing the postponement decision,? added Soyle. ?That behaviour did not represent an objective approach. There was no reason why the trial should not have ended today. This is nothing but delaying, dragging the decision.?

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