Marco W. - 247 Tage im türkischen Gefängnis (2011)

Seventeen-year-old Marco Weiss is enjoying a carefree holiday on the Turkish Riviera with his parents. But on the last day of the vacation, the idyll is shattered when Turkish authorities arrest Marco on suspicion of sexually abusing Carolina, a minor British girl. For the next 247 days, the German teenager is held in pretrial detention in a Turkish prison under inhumane conditions. Because of a translation error at the first hearing, the 17-year-old is locked up in the foreign nationals’ cell with 30 adult serious criminals. He is repeatedly brought before the court, but each time the proceedings are adjourned because Carolina’s written testimony is missing. Neither the Turkish judge nor the prosecution is convinced of his innocence. After about eight months in custody, the minor is finally allowed to travel to Germany. Meanwhile, the proceedings continue without him. Marco W. is once again spending a relaxing holiday with his parents, Martina and Ralf, at a Turkish five-star hotel. On the last day of the vacation, 17-year-old Marco has to answer questions at a police station about the previous night with Carolina, the 13-year-old British girl he met on holiday. After the girl is also questioned, Marco is formally arrested and imprisoned in a local jail on suspicion of sexual abuse. The next day, the German is brought before a court for the first time. Marco admits that he had sexual contact with Carolina, but says he neither had sexual intercourse with her nor abused her. Because of a translation error, the Turkish judge understands that he had sex with her and decides to keep him in pretrial detention for four weeks until the first proper hearing. He is locked up with 30 adult criminals in the foreign nationals’ cell at the Antalya prison, where some inmates, including a few German speakers, welcome him warmly, while others are less respectful. On the advice of the hotel waiter, who was present at the first hearing, Marco keeps the real charges secret from his fellow inmates and instead claims that he beat up a security guard. Meanwhile, despite their strained financial circumstances, his parents hire a lawyer. The lawyer arranges for them to visit Marco in prison for ten minutes, and they take up the opportunity immediately. After the visit, they want to make the inhumane conditions of his confinement public, but their lawyer persuades them to keep quiet so as not to offend the pride of the Turkish judiciary and risk negatively affecting either their son’s prison conditions or his court proceedings. Nevertheless, journalists learn of the arrest and persistently try to reach Marco’s mother, Martina W., and his brother, Sascha, in Germany. Both rebuff the German press’s attempts to contact them. Even so, the first reports appear in the German media. After bail is denied and the hearing is postponed by a further four weeks, the first trial begins after 58 days in custody, with the public excluded. Although the Turkish doctor who examined Carolina gives evidence in Marco’s favor, the court adjourns because the judge has not yet received the minor’s testimony in translated written form. In order to get their son out of prison sooner and cover the enormous costs, Marco’s family goes public with the case for the first time. With the help of their new media adviser, they are able to capitalize on the enormous media interest. Marco is also interviewed on Turkish television. The intense coverage gives the now 76-day detainee “special status” among the prisoners and guards. He is moved to a newly built single cell, also so that he will appear healthy in court. Over the next six months, there are four more hearings. Each generates further media coverage, but every one is adjourned again, despite the accused having hired another lawyer. At the same time, in Germany, Marco’s brother Sascha organizes vigils in support of his imprisoned brother and sets up a website. Finally, on December 14, 2007, after 247 days in pretrial detention, the seventh hearing begins. During the hearing, it is decided that Marco Weiss is to be released from pretrial detention without conditions and that the proceedings are to continue without him. That same day, Marco flies to Germany with his father, where his family is waiting for him.