Abdullah Cömert’s Shooter Policeman Requested For Arrest

A further analysis on surveillance cameras have detected the identity of the policeman behind the death of Abdullah Cömert, a Gezi Resistance protestor who was shot dead by a gas bomb canister in the southern province of Antakya on June 3, 2013.  

Cömert family’s attorneys filed a lawsuit to Hatay Prosecutor’s Office, saying that policeman A.K. and his supervisors must be arrested for “premeditated murder by shooting a gas bomb canister”. 

Died 10 minutes after being shot 

According to the surveillance camera shooting between 10 pm and 12 am at the night of the incident, a scorpion-type police tank fired twice in Yıldız Sokak, Antakya. The footage clearly revealed the license plate of the police vehicle. Around 11:11 pm, Ahmet Karaçaylı, a witness, called the ambulance for help. At 11:29 pm, Abdullah Cömert was declared dead at the hospital.  

“Premeditated murder” 

The statement submitted by Cömert family attorneys claimed that the “premeditated murder” occurred by the firing made from the scorpion-type police tank. 

“The MOBESE surveillance camera footage clearly demonstrates a Shortland vehicle with license plate number 6297. According to this footage, witness statements and the exact time of hospital admission clearly shows that the death was caused by the firing of gas bomb canister from the police tank.”

Witness: Vehicle directly aimed Cömert 

A witness statement on the day of the incident said the following:

“Abdullah was by my side. The scorpion vehicle stopped right on the other side of street where it could see us. It aimed and fired a gas bomb canister. When I turned my head, Abdullah fell on the floor. ”

According to Forensics Institute Report Number 3655 dated on 21 August 2013 cited the following: “Abdullah Cömert’s death took place after a gas bomb canister hit him in the head and caused skull fractures and brain hemorrhage and brain tissue damage.”

It also concluded that Cömert’s injury around 11 pm had a direct connection with his death at 11:29 pm at the same day. 

Police: Not sure if it is lethal 

Suspect policeman A.K. made the following statement: 

“It is impossible to aim any specific person during the firing. I have no knowledge whether the firing can be lethal. I haven’t witnesses such a case yet and I haven’t heard anything either. As far as what I saw from TV is that gas bomb canisters might hit people at a close range and they throw those canisters back at the vehicle.” 

No molotov cocktails, no bats, no stones 

The camera footage was retrieved from MOBESE recordings in Antakya’s Şükrü Güçlü Street, Armutlu BP, Yeloğlu area, as well as some private workplaces, post office and a photography studio.

The analysis report also cited that the protestors in the  aforemetioned footage didn’t carry anything that could contain element of crime (molotov cocktail, bat, stone…) (AS/BM)