Man jailed in turkey for looking gay
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While it isn't illegal to be gay in Turkey, the country has become an increasingly hostile place for LGBTQ people in recent years and has had a ban on Pride events since 2015. He was slammed against the wall of a van before being thrown in the back.
"They grabbed my arms and I tried to free myself.
To his horror, the holidaymaker said he was surrounded by up to eight officers and was immediately arrested, PinkNews reports.
'They grabbed my arms and I tried to free myself.
He was then moved onto a foul immigration detention centre, where he claimed that there were maggots crawling on the sheets amid other horrors.
After several hours, his name was called by prison guards, and he thought he was going to be freed.
But he and several other inmates in the same boat were driven 17 hours to another prison near the Syrian border, on the far eastern side of the country.
Mr Alvaro said he was threatened by other inmates because he was gay, but some fellow prisoners stepped up to defend them.
He claimed that they were barely given any water and hardly slept for fear of being attacked during his stay in prison."
He was not allowed to use his phone for several days, so no one knew where he was.
He said he is now warning others about the realities of holidaying in Turkey, particularly for members of the LGBTQ+ community. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.'
He says he was kept in a police van for 13 hours before being taken to a police station for processing, where he described maggots in the bedsheets and other grim conditions.
His hopes that he might be released soon after were quickly dashed.
He was eventually allowed to make a call until early July, when he phoned his father and told him where he was.
His father sprang into action and asked the Portuguese embassy to help get him freed - but it was not until July 12 that he was let go - 20 days after his arrest.
He was taken to the airport by police and flew to Portugal. It is not possible for us to accept that poison as a country whose people are 99 per cent Muslim", President Erdogan told young people during a televised meeting in early May.
In April, his interior minister, Suleyman Soylu, also falsely claimed that gay rights would allow humans to marry animals.
Man arrested in Turkey and locked up for 20 days 'because he looked gay and was wearing a crop top'
A Portuguese man was arrested in Turkey and kept in disgusting conditions in prison because he "looked gay", he has claimed.
Miguel Alvaro was on holiday alone in Istanbul on June 25 when he went out to meet a friend for lunch.
He asked police for directions, unaware that there was a nearby LGBT parade nearby, which was unsanctioned by authorities.
Mr Alvaro, who is gay, said that one of the officers ordered him to be arrested immediately.
The Istanbul Pride march has been banned since 2015, with authorities claiming security and public order concerns.
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He chose to ring his dad, who then contacted the Portuguese embassy to secure his release.
Miguel says he has been left "in a horrible psychological state", adding: "I’m very afraid of the consequences in the future.
I was beaten up by Turkish police and jailed for 20 days because I 'looked gay'
A tourist has told of his ordeal at the hands of Turkish police who he says arrested him because he 'looked gay' before allegedly detaining him for 20 days.
Miguel Alvaro, who is from Portugal, was on holiday alone in Istanbul on June 25 when he went out to meet a friend for lunch, and, unfamiliar with the city, asked officers for directions.
At least 149 people were detained in Turkey after police violently interfered with Pride celebrations, according to NGO Human Rights Watch.
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I pray for justice to be done."
It is not illegal to be gay in Turkey, but LGBT people often face discrimination nevertheless. Speaking on Instagram, he said he would not recommend anyone visiting Turkey, but especially not gay people.
"Right now, I'm in a horrible psychological state, I'm very afraid of the consequences in the future," he told P3.
"I can't believe this happened to me. One of them hit me in the ribs, they pushed me against a van, they hit me on the shoulder, which started to bleed,' he recalled.
Mr Alvaro, who is gay, was unaware that an unsanctioned Pride parade was going on nearby, and was being met with a heavy police presence.
Miguel Alvaro was on holiday alone in Istanbul on June 25 when he went out to meet a friend for lunch
Mr Alvaro, who is gay, was unaware that an unsanctioned Pride parade was going on nearby, and was being met with a heavy police presence
'After five hours in the police van, in which I was only told to shut up and be quiet, one of them explained to me that he had been detained because of my appearance,' he told Portuguese outlet P3.
'They thought I would participate in an unauthorised LGBTI+ march that was going to take place nearby because I looked gay.
He told PinkNews he felt 'disappointed, shattered and mentally drained, but relieved to be going somewhere safe'. He asked police for directions but unbeknownst to him there was a gay rights parade nearby, which was unsanctioned by authorities.
Miguel told Portuguese outlet P3 that one of the officers ordered him to be arrested immediately and he was suddenly shoved in the back of a van.
He claims: "They grabbed my arms and I tried to free myself.
I was in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Miguel said he was so afraid of attacks from other inmates because of his sexuality that he barely slept, plus the bedsheets were crawling with maggots.
A few weeks after his arrests he was allowed to make his first phone call.
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'I was beaten up by Turkish police and jailed because I 'looked gay''
Miguel Alvaro was solo holidaying in Istanbul last month when he went out to meet a friend for lunch and became lost, so asked policemen for directions before suddenly he was detained
A Portuguese man claims he was arrested in Turkey and kept in a squalid prison for nearly three weeks because he "looked gay".
Miguel Alvaro was solo holidaying in Istanbul last month when he went out to meet a friend for lunch and became lost.
Pride events have also been systematically banned in Turkey since 2015.
"L.G.B.T.
Police were out in force across the capital and the wider country as demonstrators took to the streets to celebrate in June, despite the ban.