Court releases 3 Boğaziçi University students on condition of house arrest

Three Boğaziçi University students were released on March 22 after weeks under arrest for participating in the protests against Erdoğan's appointment of a party member to their university as the rector. The release of Akın Karakuş, Necmettin Erdem and Hasan Koral Hacıbeyoğlu leaves three students still under arrest for protesting.

Tuesday March 23 2021 11:17 am

Duvar English

Three students were released from jail on condition of house arrest on March 22, weeks after their arrest for joining protests against the president's appointment of a party member as rector of Boğaziçi University.

Akın Karakuş, Necmettin Erdem and Hasan Koral Hacıbeyoğlu were released after an Istanbul court approved the prosecutor's indictment, but a fourth student, Ömer Şengel, remained incarcerated over unrelated charges, the social media account for Lawyers' Solidarity said on March 22.

Kadıköy’deki Boğaziçi eyleminden tutuklanan öğrenciler Ömer, Koral,Necmettin ve Akın için bugün iddianamenin kabulü ile birlikte tahliye kararı verildi.

Ömer başka bir dosyadan tutuklu yargılandığı için tahliye edilmeyecek.Diğer öğrenciler tahliye edilecekler #BoğaziciDireniyor
— Avukat Dayanışması (@avdayanismasi) March 22, 2021

The conditional release of the three students leaves three others incarcerated for the Boğaziçi protests, and students who are prosecuted for protests held in Istanbul's Kadıköy district will appear in court on Oct. 20, the lawyers added.

"We got Necmettin, Akın and Koral! We will get Anıl, Şilan and Ömer too, and we will continue resisting together," Boğaziçi Solidarity said on Twitter.

Necmettin, Akın ve Koral'ı aldık! Anıl, Şilan ve Ömer'i de alacak, hep birlikte direnmeye devam edeceğiz!#BundanSonrasıHepimizde pic.twitter.com/x4wc2iHwEc
— Boğaziçi Dayanışması #3 (@boundayanisma) March 22, 2021

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's appointment of party member Melih Bulu as rector of the prestigious university was viewed worldwide as a dire breach of academic freedom, and members of the school have been urging Bulu to resign since his appointment on Jan. 2.