Smoker Not Fast Enough for Enforcers

fasting links to original article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 8 August 2011)

//ed. note: during the current month of Ramazan, some people fast -
abstaining from food, drink, sex, cigarettes, etc. - during daylight hours.
Others don't.//

Z.B., who works for a foreign company in Yakutiye district of Erzurum, lit
up a cigarette when no one else was around while strolling with her
boyfriend I.M. After taking a few puffs Z.B. was confronted by M.Y. and
B.G. who approached her from across the street. They said 'Put out the
cigarette, you ill-mannered girl!'  In reply, Z.B. stated that 'I may not be
fasting right now or I may prefer not to fast. Why do you care?', allegedly
prompting M.Y. and B.G. to assault her.

When Z.B. and her boyfriend I.M., who were being roughed up by M.Y.
and B.G., saw a crowd of onlookers gathering they sought refuge in a
nearby boys student dormitory and called police for help. Z.B. and I.M.
explained the situation to the police and filed a complaint against M.Y.
and B.G. for bothering them. As the police tried to take the suspects in
for questioning a tumult erupted among the crowd that had gathered.

Three people, including a policeman, were slightly hurt during the
disturbance. After it subsided police brought Z.B. and I.M., the
complainants, and the two who had bothered them about the cigarette,
M.Y. and B.G., to the police station. Each side filed complaints about
the other. They were all then taken to court to make statements and
subsequently released.