Prosecutor demands life sentences in landmark homosexual murder case

DİYARBAKIR - Doğan News Agency

LGBT activists following the hearing said they demanded the end of impunity in the hate crimes targeting homosexuals. DHA photo

A Diyarbakır prosecutor has demanded life sentences for the three suspects - the father and two uncles - being tried for the murder of a homosexual young man due to his sexual orientation. The killing last year of the 17-year-old man, only identified as R.Ç., caused outrage among activists and has become a landmark trial in hate crimes targeting LGBT individuals.

The prosecutor said April 30 that there was enough evidence to show that the murder was premeditated, adding that the suspects committed the murder because they thought R.Ç. was shaming their family. "It is understood [from the evidence] that the suspects took the decision to kill R.Ç. and then searched for him everywhere. They found him in the Batıkent district on the night of the murder, beat him, put him in the trunk of the car, and then shot him in the head," the prosecutor said. R.Ç.'s body was subsequently left on the roadside near a hospital.

LGBT activists following the hearing said they demanded the end of impunity in the killings of homosexuals. "We want honor killings targeting homosexuals to be condemned with the heaviest sentences," the activists said in a statement.

Meanwhile, a scuffle broke out between activists and family members present at the court. The mother of the victim said she did not accept the presence of the activists at the hearings. "My son was not the member of any association. My family is being offended all this time. If I had known, I would not have come to the hearing," Gülten Ç. said.

The court postponed the trial to May 24, when it is expected to announce its ruling.