Family of Ali İsmail Korkmaz: Dismiss the Judges of Gezi Trial

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The family of Ali İsmail Korkmaz, who was beaten to death in Eskişehir during Gezi Resistance in 2013, has appealed to the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) as police officer Mevlüt Saldoğan, who was previously convicted of killing Korkmaz and whose request for intervening in Gezi trial as an aggrieved party was accepted by the court in previous hearing.

Submitting a petition to the Justice Commission on Jurisdiction to be referred to the HSK, Korkmaz family underlined that the police officer was unlawfully accepted as an aggrieved party and permitted to involve in the trial. The family has requested the reversal of the decision.

The family has also demanded that an inspector be assigned to make inquiries about the case file of Gezi trial and the judges of İstanbul 30th Heavy Penal Court be dismissed so that an investigation could be launched against them on charge of "misconduct in office."

Reminding the HSK that police officer Mevlüt Saldoğan has been convicted of "causing death as a result of deliberate injury" and sentenced to 10 years, 10 months in prison on the offense charged, the family has emphasized that İstanbul 30th Heavy Penal Court, which hears the Gezi trial, has disregarded the verdict of the Court of Cassation.

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'We waged a struggle for justice'

The family of Ali İsmail Korkmaz and the attorneys of Ali İsmail Korkmaz Trial Committee have also released a statement for the press regarding the issue. The statement has reminded the public that that "a four-year struggle for justice" had been waged for Ali İsmail Korkmaz:

"Despite the public officers' efforts to protect the perpetrators and cover up the incident from the beginning of the investigation process, eight people, including four police officers, who caused the death of Ali İsmail Korkmaz were put on trial and given varying prison terms as result of the intensive labor of our attorneys and insistent follow-up of press members."

The statement has also recalled that Mevlüt Saldoğan was put on trial as a prime suspect and sentenced to 13 years in prison by the Kayseri 3rd Heavy Penal Court. "With his prison sentence abated, he has been sentenced to 10 years, 10 months and, like other verdicts given by the local court for other defendants, this verdict has also been upheld by the Court of Cassation."

'Court decision declares the criminal innocent'

Summarizing the judicial process of the convicted police officer in above words, the statement has indicated that as Mevlüt Saldoğan has been permitted to intervene in the case, "this decision has a meaning that goes beyond the boundaries of a mere legal proceeding."

"From our perspective, the fact that the board of İstanbul 30th Heavy Penal Court has interpreted the verdicts of two local court as 'aggrievement' on the part of the defendant means declaring the criminal innocent in the simplest terms and the use of the judiciary as an instrument of revenge in its broadest term", the statement has further indicated.

'The shield of impunity encourages criminals'

Underlining that "the shield of impunity encourages the criminals", the family and attorneys of Ali İsmail Korkmaz have announced that with their petition to the HSK, they have requested that a permission be requested from the Ministry of Justice to launch an investigation against the judges of the court board that have their signatures under the verdict and the decision permitting Saldoğan to intervene in the same be reversed immediately.

What happened?

Ali İsmail Korkmaz, a freshman in English teaching at Anadolu University, attended Gezi Resistance demonstrations in the central province of Eskişehir on June 3.

He was battened by a group of casually-dressed people, as he was running away from a police intervention with gas bombs.

Arriving at Yunus Emre Public Hospital, Korkmaz allegedly was not admitted by officials who told him to testify to police headquarters initially.

Similarly, officials refused to admit him the next morning. Korkmaz struggled to find a police station to testify with his situation worsening.

Finally he was admitted to Eskişehir Public Hospital and diagnosed with "brain hemorrhage". He was later on transferred to Osmangazi Medical School Hospital. Undergoing a surgical operation there, Ali İsmail Korkmaz was unresponsive since June 4, 2015, and lost his life on July 10 after 38 days of coma.

Judicial process

In the lawsuit filed into the killing of Ali İsmail Korkmaz, eight people were put on trial. While four of these eight people were police officers, one police officer and four civilians were arrested pending trial.

The court announced its ruling in the eighth hearing on January 21, 2015. The prison sentences were given on charge of "causing death by deliberate injury" and good conduct abatement was applied to their prison sentences. The arrested police officer, was sentenced to 10 years, 10 months in prison and the other four arrested people were sentenced to three years, four months in prison.

The court ruled that arrested police officer Mevlüt Saldoğan committed the offense of "causing death by deliberate injury", rather than "deliberate murder" and sentenced him to 13 years in prison. However, his prison term was reduced to 10 years, 10 months.

On December 22, 2016, the 1st Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation upheld the prison sentence of Mevlüt Saldoğan as well as the 10-year prison sentence of police officer Yalçın Akbulut and the prison sentences of six years, eight months given to released defendants İsmail Koyuncu, Ramazan Koyuncu and Muhammet Vatansever.

(HA/SD)