İsmail Arı
The 19 March protests trial was held in Ankara.
After Cumhurbaşkanı adayı and İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and his colleagues were detained and arrested, many students were taken into custody during the protests in Ankara.
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office indicted 23 people who took part in the protests on 19 and 20 March and were detained, requesting their conviction for “attending unlawful meetings and marches without arms and failing to disperse despite warnings, attending meetings and marches while making themselves unrecognisable”. Prison sentences from one year six months to four years were requested for the students.
At the Ankara 33rd Criminal Court of First Instance the students were seated next to armed police officers.
REQUEST FOR RECUSAL
The students’ lawyers requested “the removal of police officers from the courtroom as the complainants allege strip search”.
Lawyers objected to the police being seated next to the students. The court refused to remove them.
The lawyers then requested the judge’s recusal. They told the judge “Although armed police officers were present in the courtroom, the defendants were seated next to them. We think you have rejected impartiality. For this reason we request your recusal”. The request was rejected.
NO ‘DISPERSE’ WARNING BY POLICE
One student said in defence “They intervened directly without giving a disperse warning. The police mistreated us and I do not feel comfortable while officers are in the courtroom”.
Students insisted “There was no disperse warning at the protest and even so we were detained in morning home raids”.
‘WE WILL NOT MAKE A DEFENCE’
Women students said “We were subjected to strip search by the police and we do not want to make a defence in the presence of the officers”.
Another woman student said “Because I was subjected to strip search and torture I will not make a defence here in the presence of the police”.
Some students replied to the judge’s questions by saying “I will not answer”.
LAWYERS ALSO MADE NO DEFENCE
The students’ lawyers also stated they would “not make a defence” because the police were not removed.
Some lawyers said “There is a rights violation in the court. The right to a fair trial is being violated”. The hearing was postponed to 7 May 2026.
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Ankara’da 19 Mart eylemleri davası: Polisler salondan çıkarılmadı, öğrenciler ve avukatlar savunma yapmadı, published in BirGün newspaper on December 4, 2025.
