Sevag Balıkçı was Shot By Mistake, Court Rules

A Diyarbakır military court found Kıvanç Ağaoğlu guilty of felony murder of Sevag Balıkçı, a Turkish Armenian who was shot dead under compulsory military service on the 96th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in 2011.

The judge ordered defendant Ağaoğlu to serve 4 years and 5 months of prison on the 12th hearing yesterday.

"When our lawyers presented the case, they claimed that the act of pointing a loaded G3 rifle to an individual could not be a mistake," Garo Paylan from Justice for Sevag Initiative, said.

"We have also alerted the court that the killing might be due to a racist act since it coincides with Easter and the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. We have reminded them that these claims have not been thoroughly investigated. In the end, the court found defendant guilty only of felony murder."  

Paylan also claimed that eyewitnesses changed their testimonies due to pressures over the course of the trial.

"The worries of Sevag's family has doubled since then. After the murder of Hrant Dink, we have a new symbolic murder on Armenians in Turkey. Unfortunately, the Turkish state did not show a reflect to uncover the murder of Sevag Balıkçı. It went obscure again," Paylan said.

"This is deepening our traumas. This is just another sign that Armenians are facing discrimination in the Turkish judicial system." (EKN/BM)