Danish woman detained at Istanbul gay pride march

Concerned politician urges foreign minister to intervene

A Danish woman who took part in a gay pride march in Istanbul on Sunday was detained by Turkish police, Ekstra Bladet reports.

The woman has been named as Annemette Vedel Augustesen.

“She is being held in a police bus. We don’t know exactly what has happened because they’ve taken her mobile, but we have a lawyer working on the case,” said Thomas K Rasmussen from Copenhagen Pride, who is in Istanbul himself.

A bad time to be arrested
Lars Aslan Rasmussen, a Danish member of parliament for Socialdemokratiet who had been invited to take part in the march, is uneasy about the situation.

READ ALSO: Danes arrested in Turkey on terror charges

“It is problematic that she’s been arrested. During the state of emergency, the authorities can detain her for 10 days without giving a reason,” said Aslan.

“Foreign minister Anders Samuelsen must step in because it is dangerous to be imprisoned in Turkey just now.”

Defying the ban
The authorities had forbidden the march on the grounds that right-wing extremist groups had indicated they would attack the participants, but the organisers decided to ignore the prohibition.

The police proceeded to fire rubber bullets at the marchers and make arrests.

This year’s gay pride march in Istanbul also coincided with the end of Ramadan.