Pro-abortion women to be tried in court

ISTANBUL - Doğan News Agency

Four women who staged a protest against the abortion ban in June in front of the Prime Ministerial Office in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district are being taken to court for charges including “assaulting police officers.”
The prosecutor is demanding up to three years in prison for the demonstrators.

The possibility of an abortion ban raised eyebrows among women in Turkey, leading to heated discussions and public demonstrations in June. As part of the protests, an activist group known as Halkevci Kadınlar staged a demonstration and tried to issue a press statement. The activists were exposed to police violence for half an hour, before being taken into custody.

The public prosecutor asked for “judicial control” of the detainees and the indictment prepared demands one to three years in jail. The indictment accuses university students Nida Karabağ, Müge Okur, Ece Soydan and Burcu Yangın of holding an unlawful protest and of assaulting police officers. The latter accusation comes from the women raising their badges to the faces of the police officers guarding the Prime Ministerial Office. The badges read: “Abortion is a right, we own our bodies.”