Turkish prosecutor's dismissal of sexual abuse investigation to be reviewed by inspector

Turkish prosecutor's dismissal of sexual abuse investigation to be reviewed by inspector
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Council of Judges and Prosecutors has appointed an inspector to carry out an inquiry to determine whether or not the decision to stop the investigation in 2012 was lawful.

Turkish Justice Minister authorized on Friday an inquiry into a decision by a prosecutor to drop an investigation in 2012 for the suspected sexual abuse of H.K.G., who eight years later told the prosecution that she has been incessantly subjected to sexual abuse, rape and violence since she was six years old.

In 2012, a doctor suspected sexual abuse upon a medical examination of H.K.G., who was fourteen years old at the time, and referred the case to the police. The prosecutor decided to stop the investigation after a bone ossification test said H.K.G. was 21 years old. The test was allegedly performed not on H.K.G., but a 21-year-old woman who conspired with the teenager's husband to replace her for the test.

Following minister Bekir Bozdag's authorization, Turkey's Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) appointed an inspector to carry out the inquiry to determine whether or not the decision to stop the investigation in 2012 was lawful.

H.K.G. filed criminal charges on 30 November 2020 and told the prosecution that she had been placed by her father in the hands of a 29-year-old man as his "wife" when she was six years old, that she was religiously wedded to him when she was fourteen, and that she was subjected to sexual abuse, rape and violence since she was very young.

The incident was made public on 3 December by journalist Timur Soykan who had access to the indictment and the transcripts of a recording of a revealing conversation between H.K.G. and her husband.

AKP official: "Conviction of three suspects not enough"

While members of a major religious community with close links to the government is involved in the incident, the parliamentary deputy chair of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) stated on Friday that members of the community should be heard in the court.

Ozlem Zengin said:

"Conviction of the father, the mother and the husband will not be enough. Everyone who enabled it, the relatives, people who are socially close, the members of the religious community, they should all be called to the court (...) The children in the country, they are our children. We cannot compete amongst ourselves over them. We have to protect their rights together. We have to take steps together in the Turkish Grand National Assembly."