Çilem Doğan, a woman who killed her husband for allegedly forcing her
into prostitution and was jailed for 15 years by a court in the
southeastern province of Adana on June 8, was released on bail on June
20.
The Adana 10th Court of Serious Crimes ordered Doğan’s
release on 50,000 Turkish Liras bail after her lawyer’s appeal until the
Supreme Court of Appeals’ examination of the ruling.
The court
initially sentenced Doğan to an aggravated life sentence on charges of
involuntary manslaughter, but later reduced the sentence to 18 years for
unjust provocation and then 15 years for good conduct.
Doğan’s
family deposited the bail amount and she was released from the Tarsus
closed prison in the southern province of Mersin on June 20.
After
her release, Doğan told reporters that all of her struggles were for
her child’s smile, vowing to continue to fight for women’s rights.
She claimed she killed her husband, Hasan Karabulut, out of self-defense.
“I
walked in the court’s corridors with bruises on my face to get
protection orders. I didn’t have any other options left,” said Doğan in
the courtroom during the final hearing of the case on June 8.
Doğan
was reportedly exposed to violence following her marriage to Karabulut
in 2013. She reportedly sought a divorce but gave up after family
members tried to stop her and threats from her husband, who said he
would kill her family should the divorce take place.
Doğan was detained at her father’s house in Adana and soon confessed to the murder.
“Will women always die? Let some men die too. I killed him for my honor,” Doğan told police on July 9, 2015.
While
walking to the courthouse for a medical exam on the same day, Doğan was
photographed wearing a T-shirt reading: “Dear past, thanks for all the
lessons. Dear future, I am ready.”
Handcuffed between two police officers, Doğan also gave two “thumbs up” to the reporters following her.