Man sentenced to three years in jail for kicking woman on Istanbul bus ‘for wearing shorts’

ISTANBUL

An Istanbul court sentenced Abdullah Çakıroğlu on Sept. 7 to three years and 10 months in prison for kicking a young woman for wearing “inappropriate clothes” on a public bus.

The Istanbul 40th Court of First Instance said in its ruling the sentence was given on charges of “prohibiting the freedom of belief and opinion,” “deliberate injury” and “insult.”

Lawyers of the Family and Social Policies Ministry, Turkish Bar Association, Istanbul Bar Women’s Rights Center, İzmir Bar Association and the NGO named “We Will Stop Femicides” were also present at the sixth hearing of the trial under as participants.

Çakıroğlu kicked Ayşegül Terzi, a nurse, in the face, on Sept. 12, 2016 on a public bus in Istanbul.

He later said he committed the act because he did not find Terzi’s outfit “appropriate.”

After the incident, Terzi filed a criminal complaint against Çakıroğlu and he was arrested by police.
A court then ruled to release him but upon public outrage over his release, he was arrested again and stood in the dock for the initial hearing that took place at an Istanbul court on Oct. 26, 2016.
The court then adjourned the trial while again ordering his conditional release.

On Sept. 7, the court asked Çakıroğlu for the final words in his defense. “I was not going to say this, since it is disgraceful, but her [Terzi’s] underwear could be seen while she was sitting down. I would like to know where our state draws the line. This is Turkey and it is an Islamic country … I have been provoked. Also, I had not taken my medication [the day of the attack], which had an influence,” he said.

[HH] Neighbors complain about woman for ‘wearing shorts in her home’

In a separate incident, locals in the Kolej neighborhood of the capital Ankara have reportedly filed a complaint about a woman for “wearing shorts.” 

Neighbors reportedly complained to the manager of the apartment building where the woman lives, demanding that she keep her curtains closed as she was “wearing shorts in her home.” 

The woman, an English teacher identified only by the initials T.E., said she had been “monitored” by her neighbors and workers at the construction site across from her apartment for a long time and had been abused through her social media accounts.

“I am constantly being monitored and abused in my home near Kızılay, where I have been living for around a year, by workers in the front, people living in the apartment building nearby and my neighbor’s son,” T.E wrote on her social media account on Sept. 6.

“Now, those who monitor my home because I wear shorts have complained about me to the building manager. The manager has warned me to keep my curtains closed for my own sake,” she added.