Court: Police officer who shot Berkin Elvan not 'aggrieved' by reporters

Three journalists are on trial for "turning a counterterrorism official into a target."

Ayça Söylemez

Court: Police officer who shot Berkin Elvan not 'aggrieved' by reporters

Click to read the article in Turkish

Police officer F.D., who is on trial for shooting Berkin Elvan (14) with a tear gas bomb during the 2013 Gezi Park resistance and eventually causing his death, had requested to be a plaintiff in another case against several journalists, alleging that they "targeted" him in the reports they published.

In today's (November 10) hearing, the court ruled that the officer did not have an "aggrieved" status.

"Because the title of 'plaintiff' could not be attributed to the person named F.D. and any other criminal case where this person is aggrieved could not be found, it was decided to terminate F.D.'s title of the plaintiff," said the court decision.

CLICK - With his name not mentioned, officer who shot Berkin is now plaintiff in another trial

In the mentioned case, journalists Canan Coşkun, Can Uğur and Ali Açar are charged with "targeting a police officer."

The İstanbul 34th Heavy Penal Court had sent a writ for F.D. to testify as an aggrieved party. However, he did not attend the instructional hearing held at the Van 4th Heavy Penal Court on September 17.

CLICK - Lawsuit Against 3 Journalists Over News Report on Berkin Elvan

Journalists Canan Coşkun, Ali Açar and Can Uğur are standing trial on the charge of "turning a counterterrorism official into a target" as per Article 6 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMK). The first hearing was held on September 17.

The indictment alleges that by disclosing the name of one of the police officers mentioned in the Berkin Elvan investigation, the officer was turned into a target for leftist organizations that threatened him with death.

However, the related police officer is not F.D. He is another police officer named E.Y., who was allegedly in the vicinity of the area where Elvan was shot. The name of F.D. is not mentioned in the journalists' news.

In today's hearing, Coşkun and Açar rejected the allegations. The court handed down an interim verdict, stating that the defendants' attorneys should be given time to give statements.

The next hearing will be held on February 23, 2021.

What happened?

On June 16, 2013, Berkin Elvan was hospitalized due to grave head injuries after the police intervention in the district of Okmeydanı in İstanbul. When he was admitted to the Okmeydanı Research Hospital, his heart had reportedly stopped already.

Suffering from a brain hemorrhage, Elvan went through at least five surgeries. On January 5, 2014, Elvan turned 15 in his comatose. He died on March 11, 269 days after being shot.

While the prosecutor investigating the incident was changed six times, the investigation was completed on December 7, 2016. Prepared by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, the indictment demanded that police officer F.D., who was referred to as the only defendant, be penalized on charge of "killing with eventual intent."

The 11-page indictment sent to the İstanbul 17th Heavy Penal Court has been accepted. A verdict of non-prosecution has been given for 42 police officers, who previously made their depositions as part of the investigation into the death of Elvan.

Speaking to bianet, Oya Aslan, one of the attorneys for the Elvan family, stated that a lawsuit was filed only against a single police officer who was on the scene of incident and added that since the lawsuit was filed for "killing with eventual intent", rather than for "wilful murder", it has reduced the foreseen prison sentence to 20 years.

The case is still continuing. Its next hearing will be held on May 8, 2019.

(AS/VK)

Ayça Söylemez

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Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Felsefe Bölümü mezunu. Mimar Sinan Güzel Sanatlar Üniversitesi Sosyoloji bölümünde yüksek lisans yaptı. Marmara Üniversitesi İletişim Bilimleri’nde doktora yapıyor. Vatan, Akşam, HaberTürk ve Hürriyet gazetelerinin yazıişleri ve dış haberler bölümünde çalıştı. Güncel Hukuk dergisinde yazıları yayınlandı. BirGün’de Anonim adlı köşeyi yazıyor. 2011’den bu yana bianet’te İnsan Hakları Editörü.