ŞEFİKA ETİK TRIAL

The fourth hearing of the murder of Şefika Etik trial is held on Manisa 2^nd High Criminal Court. The court punished indicted husband İ.E. with aggravated life sentence due to "premeditated murder" and with a sentence of 1.5 years of imprisonment due to firing his house intentionally.

The court did not abate although the lawyer of defendant demanded claiming that Etik cheated his husband and his client İ.E. committed the murder under extreme provocation.

Lawyer Sinem Tuğçe Aktaş evaluated the trial to bianet:

" This decree has big importance as defendants were always benefiting from abatement by now, claiming that they committed the murder under unfair provocation. However this instigate people to crime. The judge didn't abate at this trial and the court decreed that it was a "premeditated" and "brutal" murder."

"There's too much violation against women. I hope this decree will serve as a deterrent factor. This is exactly our aim; we want to ensure the protection of other women in Şefika's position"

"Of course the defendant's lawyer will appeal this decision but we believe the Supreme Court will aprove it as the trial file is so obvious."

"A case related to a murder committed in October is decreed at its fourth trial on May and this is also a crucial progress for Turkey.

What had happened?

Şefika Etik was murdered by her husband on 6 October 2011. The half-naked body of murder victim Şefika Etik, with a knife sticking out of her back, made the front page of the Habertürk newspaper on October 7th.

Husband İ.E. also injured himself while he was inflicting 20 stab wounds on his wife and trying to set her body on fire.

Throughout the judicial process began on 23 January 2012, it was revealed that Şefika married at the age of 14 and she was treated violently for the first time one month after the wedding. Everybody who knew her witnessed the violence she was exposed to. She was pregnant but suffered a miscarriage in 2010 because her husband beat her that badly. (ÇT)