A Turkish court has ordered the rearrest of four defendants in a case concerning the alleged sexual abuse of high school student interns working at the country’s parliament, reversing an earlier decision to release them pending trial.
The case concerns allegations that student interns employed at parliament’s cafeteria were subjected to sexual abuse by parliamentary staff, with reports suggesting the misconduct had continued for years.
During a hearing at Ankara’s 57th Criminal Court of First Instance on February 9, the judge ruled that all detained defendants be released under judicial supervision, citing the absence of flight risk. The decision drew immediate criticism from opposition politicians and child rights advocates.
Following an appeal by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, the court accepted the objection and ordered the rearrest of four defendants: Recep Seven, Durmuş Uğurlu, İbrahim Beşlioğlu and Halil İlker Güner.
Three of them were taken back into custody, while one suspect remains at large. Efforts are underway to apprehend the fugitive.
The investigation was launched in November 2025 after a family filed a complaint alleging the systematic abuse of student interns assigned to work at parliament.
According to the indictment drafted by the Ankara prosecutor’s office, five defendants are charged with sexual harassment of a child and sexual abuse of a child by molestation.
Four students are listed as victims in the case, and prosecutors are seeking prison sentences of up to 16-and-a-half years.
During last week’s hearing, several defendants denied the accusations and argued that their detention had been driven by public and media pressure.
One defense lawyer claimed that a student had consented to the relationship, prompting a strong reaction in the courtroom from the victim’s family and child rights advocates.
Cemile Didem Karaboğa, head of the Ankara Bar Association’s child rights center, rejected the consent argument, saying it was incompatible with the legal framework protecting minors and with the circumstances described in the case file.
She also criticized the court for failing to immediately impose confidentiality measures to protect the identities of the children involved.
The ministry of family and social services, which joined the proceedings as an intervening party, had requested that the defendants remain in pretrial detention.
A lawyer representing parliament said the institution had been harmed by the allegations, noting that the accused were parliamentary employees at the time of the alleged offenses.
The court’s initial release order triggered criticism from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
Speaking outside the Ankara Courthouse, CHP deputy chair Gökçe Gökçen questioned what she described as inconsistencies in judicial practice, claiming that suspects accused of abusing minors had been released while others remained in jail in separate cases despite having fixed addresses.
Asu Kaya, head of the CHP women’s branch, called on senior officials, including Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş and the ministers of education and family, to explain what oversight mechanisms had failed and why evidence such as security camera footage had allegedly been submitted late or incomplete.
After media reports brought the case to public attention, the parliament’s general secretariat announced that one employee had been dismissed from the civil service and that two others had their contracts terminated as part of an internal administrative investigation.
The next hearing in the criminal trial is scheduled for May 15.