Lawyers of the parties attended the hearing at the Istanbul 53rd Criminal Court of First Instance.
Announcing his opinion on the merits of the hearing, the public prosecutor stated that the defendant Mehmet Oğuz Tongsir had committed the crime of “hate and discrimination” and requested that Tongsir be sentenced to imprisonment from 1 to 3 years for the crime of “preventing a person from benefiting from a certain service offered to the public”.
In the opinion, it was stated that it was understood that the defendant Okan Oba had no fault based on intent regarding the same crime charged against him, and it was requested that the defendant be acquitted.
Defendant Mehmet Oğuz Tongsir’s lawyer, Ali Selçuk, claimed in his defense against the opinion that the legal elements of the crime alleged against his client were not realized, and that the participant in the incident in question was not discriminated against, but privileged.
Lawyer Selçuk requested that his client be acquitted.
The court that decided the case sentenced the defendant Mehmet Oğuz Tongsir to 1 year in prison for “hate and discrimination”.
Taking into account the defendant’s behavior during the trial process and the negative effects of the sentence on his future, the court reduced this sentence to 10 months by applying a discretionary reduction.
The court also decided to postpone the announcement of the verdict.
UP TO 3 YEARS OF PRISON WAS REQUESTED
In the indictment prepared by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, it was stated that on August 29, 2024, the headscarved complainant Merve İzmirlioğlu, who went to the pool to benefit from the pool in TSYD’s Levent campus, encountered the defendant Okan Oba, the pool attendant, and Oba declared to her that she could not enter the pool like this.
It was included in the indictment that he declared that he would not go into the pool and that he would stay in charge of the children, and when the complainant’s wife asked who made this decision, Oba stated that it was the association president Oğuz Tongsir.
During the meeting with the Defendant Tongsir, the complainant’s wife said to them, “Aren’t you ashamed to put your wife in the pool like this?” It was recorded in the indictment that he stated that he had previously experienced similar problems with other members.
In the indictment, it was stated that the defendants admitted the accusations in their defense and that the association’s charter was included in the file in the evidence collected by the law enforcement.
In the indictment, which stated that the defendants discriminated against the complainant and prevented them, causing people to be arbitrarily deprived of their legally valid rights and freedoms, it was emphasized that the defendants prevented the complainant from benefiting from the public service, as understood from the complainant’s statement and the suspects’ defense of the confession.
In the indictment, it was requested that the defendants Okan Oba and Mehmet Oğuz Tongsir be sentenced to 1 to 3 years in prison for the crime of “hate and discrimination”.