Verdict reached in the Gezi Park protests case involving the Beşiktaş Çarşı group

The hearing at the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court for the trial of 35 defendants, including members of the Beşiktaş fan group Çarşı, regarding the Gezi Park protests, was attended by some of the defendants who are being tried without arrest and their lawyers.

ACQUITTAL DECISION FROM THE COURT

The court panel, which concluded the case, ruled for the acquittal of all defendants, stating that there was insufficient, definitive evidence beyond any reasonable doubt regarding the charges of "attempting to overthrow the Government of the Republic of Turkey by using force and violence" and "organizing or managing unlawful meetings or protest marches," and that it was not proven that the crimes were committed by the defendants.

The panel ruled for the acquittal of 31 defendants on the charge of "resisting to prevent the performance of duty," stating that it was not proven that they had committed the act. For some of the other charges brought against all defendants, it was decided that there was no need to issue a verdict.

DISMISSAL OF CHARGES AGAINST HAKAN TEZEL REQUESTED

The court panel ruled for the dismissal of the case regarding the charges against defendant Hakan Tezel due to his death on June 20.

WHAT HAD HAPPENED?

The acquittal decisions previously given to the 35 defendants, including members of the Beşiktaş fan group Çarşı, regarding the Gezi Park protests on charges of "attempting to overthrow the government of the Republic of Turkey or prevent it from performing its duties," "opposition to the Law on Meetings and Protest Marches," and "establishing or managing a terrorist organization and being a member of an organization" had been overturned by the Court of Cassation.

In the reversal decree, it was requested that the files be merged and a decision be made within that scope, on the grounds that there was a legal and factual connection between the file regarding the Gezi Park protests at the Istanbul 30th High Criminal Court and this file.

FILES HAD BEEN MERGED IN A SINGLE COURT

The Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court had complied with the reversal decree of the 16th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation in its trial regarding the 35 defendants.

The Istanbul 30th High Criminal Court, which was trying 17 defendants including Anadolu Kültür AŞ Chairman of the Board Osman Kavala and fugitives former CIA consultant Henri Barkey and Can Dündar in relation to the "July 15 coup attempt" and "Gezi Park protests," had written to the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court, which was hearing the case of the 35 defendants including "Çarşı" members, and asked for their opinion on merging the case files on the grounds that there was a legal and factual connection in terms of the acts subject to trial.

Following this court's consent to the merger, the case files were merged at the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court.

At the hearing of the case on February 21, 2022, the court panel had separated this file, in which 35 defendants were being tried, taking into account that there were no remaining detained defendants in the file, that the defenses of all defendants had been taken, and that the issues requested to be investigated in the Court of Cassation decree had not yet been completed.