Abuse suspect gets hit at court
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Daily News with wires
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 11, 2009 00:00
BURSA - Several women’s groups staged protests in front of a Bursa court house yesterday, as an elderly columnist accused of sexual assault of a minor faced the judge for the fourth time. The police took two protestors into custody after they hit the columnist with umbrellas.
Hüseyin Üzmez, 76, from the Vakit newspaper, was arrested last April for the alleged sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl.
After spending six months in prison pending the trial, he was released in October after a forensic board in Istanbul decided the girl in question was not traumatized. Üzmez has pleaded not guilty to the charges. The release of Üzmez caused a national uproar, with the forensic board being criticized for reaching such a conclusion about the girl’s mental state without even having a child psychologist present.
After his release on Oct. 28, Üzmez publicly defended Islamic rules that permit girls to wed under the legal age of 16. "A girl who has reached puberty, who’s having periods, is of age according to our beliefs," Üzmez said on national television the day he was released. "And if she’s of age, she can marry."
His release and his statements created a huge uproar around the nation. Female lawmakers from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party, or AKP, responded by proposing laws doubling prison sentences for child abuse.
The court in Bursa decided earlier that the forensic report that facilitated Üzmez’s release was not admissible. The girl will be examined by the Istanbul Forensic Department General Council on March 16. In front of the court house yesterday, the members of a women’s group in Bursa shouted, "Have you ever been beaten by your mother?" And they yelled, "Shameless Üzmez," as he entered the court, according to the Doğan news agency. The court decided to postpone the trial. As he was exiting the court 20 minutes after he entered it, he was pelted with eggs and was taken away under police protection. Two of the protestors were detained by the police.
After spending six months in prison pending the trial, he was released in October after a forensic board in Istanbul decided the girl in question was not traumatized. Üzmez has pleaded not guilty to the charges. The release of Üzmez caused a national uproar, with the forensic board being criticized for reaching such a conclusion about the girl’s mental state without even having a child psychologist present.
After his release on Oct. 28, Üzmez publicly defended Islamic rules that permit girls to wed under the legal age of 16. "A girl who has reached puberty, who’s having periods, is of age according to our beliefs," Üzmez said on national television the day he was released. "And if she’s of age, she can marry."
His release and his statements created a huge uproar around the nation. Female lawmakers from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party, or AKP, responded by proposing laws doubling prison sentences for child abuse.
The court in Bursa decided earlier that the forensic report that facilitated Üzmez’s release was not admissible. The girl will be examined by the Istanbul Forensic Department General Council on March 16. In front of the court house yesterday, the members of a women’s group in Bursa shouted, "Have you ever been beaten by your mother?" And they yelled, "Shameless Üzmez," as he entered the court, according to the Doğan news agency. The court decided to postpone the trial. As he was exiting the court 20 minutes after he entered it, he was pelted with eggs and was taken away under police protection. Two of the protestors were detained by the police.