Released on the same charge, Ayten Öztürk given two aggravated life sentences

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Put on trial for "watching a lynching on the sidewalk" and currently under house arrest, Ayten Öztürk's life sentence aggravated twice has been upheld. The file will be sent to the Court of Cassation.

Making a statement about the verdict of the appeals court on the 242nd day of her house arrest, Öztürk has written on social media that she was given this sentence based on an informant's statement, but the informant, who is abroad, "identified" her on the picture, not in person:

"After an informant alleged at court that I had 'watched' the beating of a child rapist on the sidewalk in Okmeydanı in 2008, it was said that I had committed the crimes of attempting to change the constitutional order and wilful killing and I was given 2 aggravated life sentences.

"I have been penalized as that person looked at my photo and said, 'This person watched a child rapist being beaten on the sidewalk'."

'I will be held in solitary confinement'

Ayten Öztürk has said that she does not expect any favors from anyone, but demands justice: "The 2 aggravated life sentences given to me have been upheld by the appeals court now. If the Court of Cassation upholds this ruling, I will be held in a solitary confinement cell for the rest of my life. I don't expect favors from anyone; I only want my right, justice."

CLICK - 'They said to me, "You will rot in prison"'

In the trial held by the İstanbul 3rd High Criminal Court, Öztürk was released at her hearing on June 10, 2021. She is still under house arrest.

CLICK - 'She was released in this case, why is she arrested again?'

Öztürk's attorney Seda Şaraldı, in her defense at court, previously said that Öztürk had been released in the trial for the same offense charged, adding that she was arrested on the same charge again.

CLICK - On trial 'because she watched a lynching on the sidewalk'

What happened?

In her hearing of the case held at the İstanbul 3rd Heavy Penal Court on October 3, 2019, the prosecutor's announced his opinion as to the accusations and referred to Ayten Öztürk's watching of a lynching in the neighborhood as criminal evidence against her:

"In his identification during the investigation, defendant Mesut Pekgöz identified Ayten Öztürk as the person who attended the meeting on drugs and gambling at Okmeydanı Rights and Freedoms Association and was watching the act of lynching while Selahadding Cirit was being lynched..."

Another evidence brought against Öztürk is that she attended a meeting at Okmeydanı Rights and Freedoms Association: "In the statements of ... defendant Burak Altundal, [he indicated that] he had seen Ayten Öztürk in the association building, they put the phones in the basket in the association, the personnel there told them to leave the phone..."

Öztürk is now facing a life sentence aggravated twice on charge of "deliberate killing" twice as per the Article 82/1 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) and as per the Article 5/1 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMK).

The file of the case where she is on trial "because she was caught with a fake passport" has been merged with this case.

The People's Law Bureau has made the following statement about the incident of "abduction from Lebanon" mentioned by the lawyer:

"The court case where Ayten Öztürk is now standing trial is based on the incident where a person named Selahaddin Cirit was lynched in Okmeydanı in 2008 and lost his life in hospital as a result of this. There was no arrested defendant in the case that had been going on for over 10 years.

"Ayten Öztürk was taken into custody at Beirut Airport on March 8, 2018. She was held there for five days; then, while she was being handed over to the authorities in Turkey on March 13, 2018, a bag was put over her head and she was taken to an unknown location. She was subjected to severe torture in this unknown location for 6 months.

"At the end of this 6-month period, Öztürk was left in a field in Yapracık, Ankara on August 28, 2018 with two suitcases and one backpack. A few minutes after she was left there, she was detained by the Ankara Counterterrorism teams. She was held in detention for 3 days; she was referred to the courthouse on August 31, 2018 and arrested."

While Öztürk filed a criminal complaint about this torture, her criminal complaint has ended in a decision of non-prosecution.

(AS/SD)