Lawyers stage 'standing' protest in 'Standing Man' trial

The trial of 19 young people who staged a 'Standing Person' protest in Taksim Square on the anniversary of the Gezi Resistance and were subjected to mistreatment and reverse handcuffing was held today. 

The trial began with a dispute over the judge not wearing a robe. When lawyers warned the judge to wear his robe, the presiding judge replied, "It is not mandatory to wear it; I see fit to do it this way. It is the year 2025, should I wear a wig too?" 

When the lawyers said, "Then we will take off our robes too," the judge put on his robe. Before moving on to the questioning of the defendants, Attorney Kadir Tanrıverdi requested an immediate acquittal and filed a request for concrete norm review due to the unconstitutionality of Law No. 2911. After the defendants' statements were taken, the defense lawyers stated that they did not know what they were defending in this file because there was neither an act nor a properly prepared indictment, and that this was a political case, noting that the reason for the lawsuit was that it took place both on the anniversary of Gezi and in Taksim. The defense arguments were colorful. When Attorney Doğan Zafer Çıngı said, "Normally, young people are prosecuted for not standing still, but this time they are being prosecuted for standing still," there was laughter in the courtroom. 

Attorney Pınar Akbina stated that they wanted to demonstrate the protest in practice, and all the lawyers stood up and remained still for a while. During this time, the audience applauded the lawyers. Upon this, the judge said he would remove the lawyers from the courtroom. The lawyers replied that a trial could not be held without defense counsel, and the hearing continued. As a result of the hearing, it was decided to lift all judicial control measures and to notify the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding the police officers who mistreated the defendants. The trial was adjourned to March 4, 2026, to receive the prosecutor's opinion.

News Source: 12punto