Gezi Park trial: Witness admits recognizing suspects in drunken state

Mosque security guard said there were crushed cans of beer inside in the second hearing at Gezi Park trial

A security official on Friday appeared as a witness in the second hearing of the Gezi park trial, in which 255 anti-government protestors are accused of holding last year’s protests which erupted in Istanbul's business center, Taksim.

Thirty-nine defendants and two deputies from the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, were present for the second hearing at 55. Penal Court of First Instance in Istanbul.

Naif Uçar, the first witness heard in court, was standing guard as a security official outside the Bezmi Alem Sultan Mosque in Dolmabahçe, during the incident on June 2, 2013. The crowd was swelling at around 6 p.m. outside the mosque when they closed the mosque’s door. However, the mosque’s preacher ordered him to open the door after the protestors increasingly massed on the doorstep.

“A group ripped the iron bars of the mosque away. They were 15 to 20 people. When they opened the door slightly, the preacher wanted me to open the door. They were removing their shoes, but later others flocked to the inside with their shoes on,” said Uçar. “Around 2,000 protestors were present outside the mosque. I saw nearly 50 health officials with their doctor shirts on,” he said.

“Some of them were already drunk when they entered the mosque, but I do not know how many of them were drunk. I saw crushed cans of beer inside,” said Uçar when the judge asked if he saw anyone drinking beer inside the mosque. “But I don't know the certain color of the can, because I don't drink alcoholic beverages,” he said. “I think, it was a red can of Tuborg beer.”

The witness also said some of the protestors broke mirrors in the mosque. “I couldn't see who broke the mirrors. A man holding some smashed pieces of the mirrors was completely drunk. So, I took him out because he was drunk,” he said.

The co-defendants, including doctors, engineers and architects, could face up to 29 years in prison for attending the Gezi Park-centered demonstrations, which actually marked the biggest challenge to the then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s 11-year-long reign that he had faced before the Dec. 17-25 raids targeted his government and his inner circle. The suspects are allegedly linked with the organization, called ‘Taksim Solidarity’, an umbrella organization organizing the protest.

The Gezi Park demonstrations began last year in May to bring down the democratically-elected Turkish government through unlawful, undemocratic ways. The anti-government protest began as a pro-environmentalist activity in Istanbul’s Gezi Park, but later spread across Turkey.

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#Erdoğan

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#Dolmabahçe

#drunk

#beer

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