Juvenile abuser released from jail in Turkey

[Babur Han]

Juvenile abuser released from jail in Turkey


Wednesday, March 9, 2011
ISTANBUL - Daily News with wires
Former daily Vakit columnist Hüseyin Üzmez, who was convicted of child abuse in September 2009, was released from prison Wednesday after a Bursa court suspended his 13-year sentence.

The court in western Turkey upheld the sentence on appeal but released him based on the time he spent under arrest, broadcaster CNNTürk reported on its website.

Üzmez said his release was a rightful decision. "Thank God," he told reporters in front of the courthouse. "From now on, you will see plenty of me in newspapers and on television channels."

The 78-year-old Üzmez was initially sentenced to 13 years, one month and 15 days in prison after he was convicted of sexually abusing a minor.

The former columnist was arrested on charges of having a sexual relationship with B.Ç., a 14-year-old girl, with her mother’s knowledge. After spending six months in prison pending trial, he was released Oct. 28, 2009, after a forensic board in Istanbul decided the girl in question was not traumatized. Üzmez pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Üzmez’s release in 2009 caused a national uproar; the forensic board was criticized for reaching a conclusion about the girl’s mental state without consulting a child psychologist.

After his release, Üzmez publicly defended Islamic rules that he said 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,” he said on national television the day he was released. “And if she’s of age, she can marry.”

His statements sparked further controversy. Female lawmakers from the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, responded by proposing laws that would double prison sentences for child abuse.

During a second examination of B.Ç. by the same board, a psychologist placed on the board quit, saying it was going to find once more that the girl was not traumatized. The alleged victim was examined twice more, on April 14 and June 3, by the 32 doctors on the Istanbul forensic board.

According to reports, 24 doctors said the girl was traumatized while eight said she was not. The conclusion of the 10-page report, which was submitted to the Bursa court trying Üzmez, was that she was traumatized.

Juvenile abuser released from jail in Turkey - Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review