Aydemir has denied the charges against her in her statement during the trial. The trial has been postponed until 23 June

MELTEM AKYOL, ISTANBUL

The first hearing in the trial of academic Aslı Aydemir, who was jailed for protesting the attack on the Beyoğlu office of LeMan magazine and charged with “resisting to prevent the performance of duty,” was held at the Istanbul 8th Criminal Court of First Instance on 12 February 2026.

Aydemir and her lawyer, as well as the plaintiff police officer and his lawyer, were present at the hearing, which was monitored by P24. A large number of people came to the courthouse to observe the hearing, including observers from the Istanbul Bar Association, Academics for Peace, the Association of Psychologists for Social Solidarity (TODAP), the Istanbul Bar Association Women's Rights Center, Education-Union, and representatives from LeMan magazine. However, due to insufficient capacity in the courtroom, many people, including journalists, were not allowed inside.

The hearing began with a delay of approximately 20 minutes. After identification, Aydemir's defense began.

In her defense, Aydemir stated that her statement to the police had been recorded incompletely and that she saw the police officer she was accused of intentionally injuring for the first time in the courtroom.

Aydemir stated that she had met her husband in Taksim for dinner on the day of the incident and that they had learned of the attack on the LeMan magazine building because of a cartoon published in the magazine. Aydemir said that the group of attackers identified themselves as “Muslims” and chanted slogans, to which he responded, “Go to Palestine, you are in the wrong place,” stating that her intention was to draw attention to the contradiction in the reactions to Israel's attacks on Palestine.

Aydemir said that after her remarks, she was insulted and the group approached her aggressively, adding, “One of them said, ‘You go to a brothel,’ and they came at me. They tried to lynch me.”

Aydemir said that in order to protect her and her husband, she threw the glass containing beer at the group, stating, “I want to emphasize this: I did not throw the glass, I threw the drink inside it. I did not target anyone, I did not intend to injure anyone.”

When the presiding judge asked, “Did not the glass fall from your hand?”, Aydemir replied, “The glass fell from my hand; I did not throw it. It fell in the commotion.”

Aydemir stated that a female police officer pulled her away from the crowd during the incident and that she did not resist. She said her husband was beaten and bottles were thrown at them. Aydemir noted that he had a bump on his head and cuts from glass on his hands.

Aydemir said she was targeted in videos shared on social media and expressed concern for his safety from 30 June until the morning of 4 July, when she was taken into custody.

Aydemir said that on the morning of 4 July, she learned that one of the police officers who came to her house was injured and had filed a complaint against her. After his arrest, Aydemir read the police officer's complaint and stated that some of the statements in the complaint were untrue.

Aydemir continued: "Shortly after my arrest, I read the police officer's complaint with astonishment. He said that I had deliberately hit him on the arm, knowing he was a police officer, causing him injury, along with many other statements that were contrary to the truth, without mentioning the insults and attacks against me that night, or the attempted lynching. Nothing I did was against the police; it was in front of the police officers. I did nothing except defend myself against the attackers, and I only knew the faces of the attackers; they were the ones in front of me. The uniformed and plainclothes police officers there were supposed to protect me, which they did, and I was not beaten. I think the plaintiff police officer accused me because it was easier and cost him nothing to blame me for his pain."

Aydemir stated that she considered the complainant police officer's injury to be an “unfortunate accident,” saying, “As someone who was attacked and had to defend herself, I could not have foreseen such a risk.” Aydemir stated that she did not accept the charges and requested acquittal.

The complaining police officer, Mustafa Ö., said, "I was the Security Branch Manager on the date of the incident. There was already a demonstration when we entered the street. I negotiated with the Islamist group and got them to leave. Then their numbers increased. We work in plain clothes. The others work in police vests. It should be clear that I am a police officer. We took the angry group outside. Then I took the six or seven people I saw with the lady into custody. When the defendant raised his beer glass as if to toast the Muslim group, I knew there would be trouble. I said, ‘Let me go, let's get her out of there,’ because they would have lynched her. The defendant said, 'Go to Palestine.’ Someone else said, ‘Go to the brothel.’ I intervened. These were split-second events. The glass shattered on my arm. I pulled back, and my radio fell to the ground. Then, other riot police teams arrived.” Mustafa Ö. added, “She doesn't remember because she was drunk. It does not matter to me that she was drunk."

The plaintiff's lawyer requested to join the case as co-plaintiff and said, “We request that the indictment be expanded. There is an injury involved. Our complaint continues.”

The court accepted police officer Mustafa Ö.'s request to join the case. The court decided to wait for the forensic medical report to determine whether the plaintiff had permanent functional loss and postponed the case until 23 June 2026.

Background of the case

On 26 June 2025, a drawing published in LeMan magazine depicting characters named “Muhammad” and “Musa” was interpreted by religious and conservative groups as a “depiction of the prophet” and sparked strong reactions. A seizure order was issued against the magazine, an investigation was launched, and four employees of the magazine were detained.

On the evening of 30 June, a large group of conservative men armed with sticks gathered in front of LeMan magazine's building in Beyoğlu and attacked the building with stones. Aydemir, who happened to be there, reacted to the threats and slogans directed at the magazine. Aydemir was detained from her home on 4 July and imprisoned pending trial on charges of “resisting the police” and “intentional injury.”

On 16 July, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office filed an indictment against Aydemir on charges of “intentional injury.” However, this indictment was returned by the Istanbul 8th Criminal Court of First Instance. The prosecutor's appeal against this decision was also rejected on 24 July.

With this decision, the case returned to the investigation stage. The second indictment, prepared in November, was also returned by the court on similar grounds. After this stage, the prosecutor in charge of the case was suspended, the prosecutor appointed to replace them objected to the assignment, and the process had to start from scratch each time, further prolonging the trial. The third indictment was accepted in December; however, the decision to continue Aydemir's detention was upheld. Aydemir was released pending trial on 14 January 2026.