Eighteen Turkish students and one member of staff from Ankara’s Middle East Technical University are due to go on trial for organising an LGBTQ+ Pride sit-in after being told they could not go ahead with their annual campus Pride march; if found guilty, they could face up to three years in jail.
Their trial begins on Thursday, December 10, which is also International Human Rights Day, with the group being accused of “participating in an unlawful assembly” and “failing to disperse despite being warned”, despite their protest being of a peaceful nature.