Court calls for new report in abuse case

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

The case caused a furor after a forensic report decided the girl was not traumatized, leading the court to release 76-year-old Hüseyin Üzmez on Oct. 28. Üzmez was accused of having abused the girl, known only as B.C. in the indictment, on several occasions in both the Istanbul and Bursa provinces.

The court yesterday rejected the girl’s lawyer’s demand that the columnist should be rearrested but decided the calls for a new forensic report was valid.

The girl’s lawyer, Nevin Canbaz, argued that the commission that prepared the report, did not include a child psychologist, necessitating a new report. The prosecutor and judges agreed.

Objections
The Social Services and Child Protection Agency, or SHÇEK, and the Bursa Bar Association objected to the court’s decision to release Üzmez and demanded he be put back in prison.

After Üzmez’s release, State Minister Nimet Çubukçu said they objected to the official forensic report on the victim, too.

Laboratory test results showed the victim was exactly 14-years-old at the time, which made the alleged actions of Üzmez a crime, as sexual intercourse with a child under 15 is penalized under Turkish law.

Evidence sufficient
Çubukçu said the laboratory test results and earlier reports that indicated the victim was traumatized by the event, were evidence in support of their application.

Female deputies of the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, submitted a proposal to double the penalties for sexual assault, just days after the release of Üzmez.

After his release, Üzmez publicly defended Islamic rules that permit girls to wed below the legal age of 16. "A girl who’s reached puberty, who’s having periods, is of age, according to our beliefs," Üzmez told national television the day he got out. "And if she’s of age, she can marry."