According to Kurdistan Press, the case of Emre Bayram, a prisoner who has been in prison since 2009, has once again become a topic of discussion about the trial process and determining the age of the accused in Turkey. According to his lawyer, Bayram was 17 when he was arrested, but due to his age being increased by seven years during the judicial process, he was tried in a high criminal court instead of a juvenile court and sentenced to life in prison.Bayram's name has been brought up alongside cases such as the execution of Erdal Eren after he was over-age during the September 12, 1980 coup and the sentencing of Zaim Hashman Ali at the age of 17, as another example of the dispute over determining the age of the accused.

Arrest and Age Change

Emre Bayram, who was born on October 11, 1994 according to his civil registration documents, was arrested on September 27, 2009 during a clash in the rural area of ​​​​Lired, Bitlis, on charges of being a member of the People's Protection Forces (HPG).

He was initially prosecuted as a "child involved in crime", but after the police requested to check his age, he was transferred to the Bitlis State Hospital. The hospital twice declared Bayram to be over 22 years old without referring him to a forensic doctor.His lawyers opposed this opinion and requested that the case be referred to the forensic medicine and that his siblings be heard, but the court rejected these requests. Although the Istanbul forensic medicine also stated that it was not possible to determine the age based solely on the hospital report, the court ignored this opinion and changed Bayram's date of birth from 1994 to 1987.

As a result of this decision, his case was removed from the juvenile court and heard in the High Criminal Court. The court sentenced him to life imprisonment and 10 years and five months in prison on the charge of "acting against the unity and territorial integrity of the country."

Difficulty in appointing a lawyer

In 2011, Bayram's then-lawyer, Osman Çelik, was arrested in the so-called "KCK" case.Bayram, who was left without a lawyer, went to the notary to grant a new lawyer power of attorney, but because he was still considered a minor in official documents, he was unable to do so and was only able to draw up a power of attorney in the presence of his parents. His conviction was also confirmed by the Supreme Court of Turkey in 2013.

Dismissal of judges and prosecutors in the case

After the failed coup of July 15, 2016, the judges and prosecutors who were involved in the handling of Bayram's case were dismissed from their positions as part of the investigation related to the "Fethullah Gulen Organization" (FETÖ).

New medical report

In 2021, Bayram's family and lawyers went to the Bismil Court of Justice to correct his registered age.They presented elementary school photos, educational documents, family registration documents and other documents, emphasizing that if Bayram was indeed born in 1987, he should have been registered with his older brother years ago, and not in 1995 with a birth date of October 11, 1994.

Bayram was then sent to Patnos State Hospital for new tests. The hospital’s medical board reported on February 3, 2022 that scientific examinations showed that he was under 18 at the time of the incident.

Unsuccessful requests for retrial

Despite this report, the court rejected the request for age correction, arguing that the criminal court’s decision on age was final and that the civil court had no jurisdiction to review it.Bayram's lawyers appealed the verdict to the Court of Appeal, arguing that the first-instance court had acted impartially and had increased their client's age without conducting valid scientific tests. Although the Court of Appeal initially ordered a retrial due to some formal defects, it ultimately upheld the first-instance court's verdict in March 2026.

Complaint to the Constitutional Court

Bayram's lawyers filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court of Turkey on June 3rd, claiming that their client's right to a fair trial had been violated. They stressed that ignoring the scientific report from Patnos Hospital, without providing any legal arguments, was a clear violation of the defendant's rights and requested a retrial.Also on June 23, the case lawyer filed another request for a retrial with the Van High Criminal Court, citing Bayram's advancing age as well as the dismissal of the judges and prosecutors in the case due to their links to Fethullah Gülen.