ANKARA - A Turkish court Friday ruled that a German teenager accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old British girl must remain in custody here despite appeals from Germany for him to be sent home, Turkish media reported.
The second session in the trial, which has sparked a diplomatic spat between Ankara and Berlin, was held in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya behind closed doors because the defendant, identified only as Marco W., 17, is a minor.
The judge rejected the defendant's request for his release and adjourned the trial to August 8, the NTV news channel reported.
The boy's parents were present at the hearing and his mother was seen crying outside the courtroom after the ruling, the Anatolia news agency reported.
Marco W. was arrested on April 11 after the British girl's mother pressed charges, saying Marco W. had a physical relationship with her daughter while they were on holiday in Antalya, a major destination for European tourists.
In interviews with the Turkish and German press, Marco W. admitted he had physical contact with the girl, identified as Charlotte M. from Manchester, but said she had told him she was 15 and consented. He said they did not have intercourse.
His family, complaining that Marco is held under poor conditions, has made an emotional appeal for his release.
German politicians have called for him to be sent back to Germany to stand trial in his home country.
On Friday, Christian Wulff, premier of Marco's home state state of Lower Saxony, called the decision to continue holding him in Turkey irresponsible.
"We respect the independence of the Turkish judiciary," Wolf told the regional Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung.
"But we consider his detention under such conditions for such a long time on these charges to be inappropriate and irresponsible."
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul in a bid to secure the boy's release while German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been quoted in the Turkish press as saying he should be handed over to Germany for trial there.
Turkey's deputy prime minister Mehmet Ali Sahin last week denounced the outcry over the case as politically motivated.
"When they (European countries) say they cannot interfere with the judiciary, they must remember that the same principle is also valid for us," he said.
Steinmeier said Germany respects the independence of the judiciary, but urged a solution so that Marco W. "can swiftly rejoin his family in Germany," adding that there were "humanitarian aspects" and "schooling requirements" involved.
Marco W. told a Turkish newspaper last week that he was well treated by the Turkish authorities in the prison where he is held.
He also called on the British girl to tell her parents and the authorities the truth so he can be freed.
The results of a gynaecological examination of the girl showed that she was still a virgin, according to media reports.
Marco W. was working as a youth group leader for the volunteer-based German state disaster relief agency THW when the two teenagers struck up a friendship.
07/06/2007 17:11 GMT