Police Officer Who Shot Abdullah Cömert During Gezi Protests Arrested
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After his sentence became final, the police officer who shot Abdullah Cömert (22) with a tear gas grenade and caused his death during the 2013 Gezi Park protests has been arrested.
Ahmet Kuş was sentenced to 6 years, 10 months and 15 days in prison on November 19, 2018 for "killing by conscious negligence" (Turkish Penal Code Article 85/1) in a retrial by Balıkesir 2nd Heavy Penal Court.
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TCK Article 87/4 Where the intentional injury results in the death of a person, the offender shall be sentenced to a penalty of imprisonment for a term of eight to twelve years for offenses defined in paragraph one and twelve to sixteen years for offenses defined in paragraph three. TCK Article 85/1 Any person who causes the death of another by reckless conduct shall be sentenced to a penalty of imprisonment for a term of two to six years. |
A previous sentence of 13 years and 4 months by the same court on March 14, 2016 for "killing by exceeding the intention" as per Article 87/4 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) was overturned by the Court of Cassation.
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"Our right to access to justice has been restricted and violated as the trial was held in Balıkesir, not in Antakya where the incident occurred," Hatice Can, the attorney of the Cömert family said on Twitter.
"The court did not even conduct discovery at the scene. We were forced to travel 1,200 km for every hearing.
"While it was clear that it was a deliberate act, the defendant has not received the punishment he had to receive for deliberate killing. Abdullah Cömert was targeted and shot from the back of his head with a gas canister.
"Only one police officer received a sentence in the case. However,
"The person punished in the file is just one police officer. While the chiefs who gave orders regarding the use of gas that day should be included in the case, no one else stood trial."
What happened?The investigation regarding Abdullah Cömert, hit by a tear gas canister during Gezi Park events on 3 June 2013 and lost his life after being hospitalized, have been concluded on 14 April 2014. According to the bill of indictment accepted by Hatay 2nd High Criminal Court, the police officer Ahmet Kuş is being tried on the grounds of Article 81/1 and 21/1 of the Turkish Penal Code which rule "killing with eventual intent". The first hearing of the case was held on 4 July in Hatay 2nd High Criminal Court. However, before the first hearing, the lawyer representing suspect Kuş applied for the case to be transferred to another city. Hatice Can, the lawyer representing Cömert, has explained that the right to a fair trial is violated. However, the objection made by lawyer Can was not taken into consideration and the case was transferred to Balıkesir 2nd High Criminal Court with a decision by Penal Department No. 5 of the Supreme Court. The case is seen in Balıkesir, the witnesses and Cömert family will attend the court hearing from Hatay and the suspect police officer Ahmet Kuş will attend from Mersin. The request for the arrest of Kuş, however, has been rejected. |
(AS/VK)