Murderer of Academic Ceren Damar Sentenced to Aggravated Life Imprisonment

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The murderer of academic Ceren Damar Şenel has been sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment in the final hearing of the case.

Şenel, a research assistant at Çankara University Department of Law in the capital Ankara, was stabbed and shot dead in her room by her student Hasan İsmail H. in January 2019.

Ankara 33th Heavy Penal Court sentenced the defendant to aggravated life imprisonment for "deliberately killing a person because of the public duty he/she fulfills. He was also sentenced to 1 year in prison for "possessing an unlicensed weapon" and to 2 years in prison for "threatening with firearms." The court did not apply discretionary mitigation.

After a dispute regarding an exam, the student went to his professor's room at the university. He first stabbed, then shot Damar twice. Being seriously wounded, the academic lost her life while she was being taken to hospital.

Damar Şenel's father, Mustafa Damar, made a statement for the press ahead of the hearing, saying that "Justice must be served as soon as possible. The case of Ceren Damar is the case of the whole society. Therefore, the decision to be made at the end of the case will be a milestone." (RT/VK)