Constitutional Court Rejects Application of Elvan Family: 'One Police Officer Already on Trial'

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The Constitutional Court has rejected an application for an investigation against police officers who are responsible for the killing of Berkin Elvan (14) in the 2013 Gezi Park protests.

The court stated that one police officer is already on trial and a lawsuit can "always be filed" against others who are responsible. Concluding that the legal remedies were not exhausted, the top court found the application was "inadmissible."

"If an indictment has been written about some suspects regarding the incident of death and if the trial process that started with the admission of the indictment is continuing, it is always possible to identify the people who have responsibilities in the incident and to open a public case against them," the court said.

It further stated that there is no obstacle to public prosecution if people who were previously decided not to be prosecuted by the courts found responsible.

The Constitutional Court previously rejected an application that was filed because the then-governor and security director were not permitted to be prosecuted.

'There are no complaints regarding the trial'

The court, ignoring the Elvan family's objections during the trial period, stated that police officer F.D., who fired the gas canister that killed Elvan, was effectively investigated and the trial of him was in compliance with the procedures.

"Considering the course of the investigation after 2016 and there are not any complaints about the trial regarding F.D., there is no reason in this stage to examine the investigation into the death of the relative of the applicant."

The court concluded that since it is always possible to identify those people who are responsible and open a public case against them, it could not be said that legal remedies before the individual application to the Constitutional Court were exhausted.

The prosecutor's office had given a decision of non-prosecution regarding the other police officers who were at the scene of the incident on the grounds that "it could not be identified that actions that could be considered as participation in F.D.'s action and that they had the will to participate in the action."

Why did the family apply to the top court?

The Elvan family made the following claims regarding the trial and the responsibility of other police officers:

"Security forces, targeting him, fired a gas canister at Berkin Elvan's head, the documents that were requested from the security units were either not delivered or delivered late or delivered partially, the investigation was deliberately slowed down,

"Camera footage related to the time of incident was put in the investigation file one year after the incident, Berkin Elvan was hit by a targeted shot according to the analysis of the camera footage, and there were two ZET operators (people who use tear gas grenade launchers), one gas canister carrier, five police officers, including one chief giving orders and one who intervened in later, at the scene of the incident,

"Although the physical appearances of the ZET operators were known and it was known that the police chief at the scene of the incident was K.E.H., neither the ZET operators were identified nor the statement of the police chief was taken, the police officers who watched the camera footage stated that they did not know the ZET operators,

"Along with the police officer who pulled the trigger, the other ZET operator who pulled the trigger and the police chief who ordered that ZET weapons be used were responsible for the incident, besides, both two ZET operators fired their weapons and it could not be determined that which ZET operator fired the canister that caused the death,

"The investigation was neither effective nor concluded in a reasonable time and the obligations of not killing, protecting and effective investigation, which are attributed to the state by the right to life, and the right to a fair trial were violated." (AS/VK)