Feminicide: Zafer P. given life sentence for killing Güleda

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Having stabbed university student Güleda Cankel (19) to death in Isparta province, Zafer P. had his final hearing today (August 20).

P. attended his hearing at the Isparta 1st Heavy Penal Court via the Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS). The hearing was also attended by Güleda's father Mustafa Cankel and attorneys of both parties. Women's rights defenders and main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Women's Branch Chair Aylin Nazlıaka were also among the audience.

Defendant: I apologize to the family

In his defense, defendant Zafer P. said that he did not premeditate the murder. "I remember strangling her, but I do not remember the rest. I apologize to the aggrieved family," he said.

The attorney of the defendant also made defense. Arguing that "the judgement had been handed down on social media and in the press," the attorney said, "My client's right to a fair trial has been usurped."

Announcing its verdict, the court board has ruled that the defendant shall be sentenced to life imprisonment on charge of "wilful murder."

Father Cankel: I want justice

Addressing the reporters before the previous hearing, father Mustafa Cankel said, "We have total confidence in justice for giving the harshest punishment possible." He briefly added the following:

"We say 'Okay, this is the last.' But then, seeing what happened to Zeynep and, lastly, to Ceren in Muğla, in our Muğla... Pınar has wounded our feelings. It is the fourth hearing or, practically, the third hearing. We expect that the court will most probably hand down its judgement. There was an aggravated life sentence in the prosecutor's opinion. It is not enough but we will try to get it. We believe that it will be given."

What happened?

Güleda Cankel was a 19-year-old student of photography at the Isparta University of Applied Arts. On November 19, 2019, Zafer P. stabbed Güleda Cankel to death in the Fatih Neighborhood of Isparta.

Women took to the streets all across Turkey to protest this feminicide.

An indictment was issued against the defendant, demanding aggravated life imprisonment on charge of "premeditated murder with monstrous feeling or by tormenting." (EMK/SD)

*Photo: Aylin Nazlıaka, social media account