Detained İzmir LGBTI+ activists charged with obscenity after police accessed phones without warrants

During a series of raids across 15 cities on September 13, authorities detained 162 individuals, including sixteen who were formally charged yesterday with obscenity and prostitution in İzmir. A lawyer representing the accused reported that police obtained the suspects' phone passwords without any judicial authorization and searched the devices, adding private messages and photos to the case file. He explained that the probe originated from “online patrols,” a method the Constitutional Court has ruled unlawful, which scans social media without a warrant.

The lawyer contended that the charges misuse vague notions of public morality to target LGBTI+ people for merely existing. He warned that conflating unrelated accusations reinforces stigma and undermines the state's duty to protect the community from discrimination. The crackdown has drawn criticism from human-rights groups and politicians alike.