Three go on trial over Turkish student's murder
Officials have acknowledged violence against women, specifically by their husbands, is a grave problems in Turkey
People hold posters of Ozgecan Aslan as human rights activists gather to protest her killing in Ankara, on 21 February (AFP)
Published date: 12 June 2015 14:46 BST
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Last update: 8 years 11 months ago
Three men went on trial at a Turkish court on Friday facing life imprisonment over the murder and attempted rape of a 20-year-old female student that unleashed a wave of anger over violence against women in the country.
Ozgecan Aslan was murdered in the southern region of Mersin in February while returning home from a shopping trip on a minibus, in a crime that sparked street protests and online campaigns.
The driver of the minibus, Ahmet Suphi Altindoken, was arrested and charged with murder and attempted rape.
Meanwhile his father, Necmettin Altindoken, and a friend, Fatih Gokce, were also arrested and charged with helping him hide the crime and conceal evidence.
If found guilty, all face aggravated life imprisonment - life jail terms with tougher conditions - the highest penalty possible in Turkey after its abolition of the death sentence.
The trial was held at a court in the city of Tarsus in the Mersin province with all three suspects present, the Anatolia news agency and NTV channel reported.
In a show of solidarity, some 1,000 lawyers have requested to take part in the trial to represent Ozgecan Aslan as co-plaintiffs and television pictures showed them arriving in buses from all over Turkey.
However with the court's capacity at only around 100, hundreds of supporters also massed outside the court building, holding up pictures of Ozgecan and calling for justice.
Ahmet Suphi Altindoken is accused of driving Ozgecan Aslan to a wood after all the other passengers got off, and then attempting to rape her.
However, the young woman fought back against her attacker using pepper spray and Altindoken then bludgeoned and stabbed her to death.
Altindoken's father and friend are accused of helping him then burn and dispose of the body. The remains were found by police and the three were arrested.
The Turkish authorities acknowledge there is a grave problem of violence against women in the country, often involving wives killed by their husbands.
According to the Platform to Stop Violence Against Women NGO, 286 women were murdered in Turkey in 2014 and 134 so far in 2015, many of whom have been killed by their partners.
Gozde Salur, 21, from the western province of Izmir, launched an online petition immediately after Aslan's brutal murder, asking parliament to amend legislation to prevent judges using provisions of "good conduct" and :unjust provocation" in the Turkish Penal Code to give lower jail terms for those found guilty of attacking women.
The campaign has attracted more than one million supporters, making it the biggest virtual campaign in Turkey.
In another shocking attack in May, a Turkish teenager who was competing in a nationwide televised song contest was shot in the head, allegedly by her ex-boyfriend. Mutlu Kaya, 19, remains in a coma.
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