File sent back for forensic medicine examination in the case of armored vehicle caused child death

Photo: Mezopotamya Agency

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Seven-year-old Miraç Miroğlu lost his life when hit by an armored vehicle while driving his bicycle on September 3, 2021, in the Turgut Özal neighborhood of İdil, Şırnak. 

The sixth hearing of the case was heard yesterday (June 20) at the İdil Penal Court of First Instance. 

Police officer M. K. was not present in the hearing of the case where he is standing trial for "killing by gross carelessness" while his lawyer accused the child. 

Defense lawyer accuses the child

Mezopotamya Agency reported that the hearing started with lawyer Sedef Kılıç Akarsu's pleading.  

The lawyer of the police officer argued that it was the child who caused the accident. 

"The road that my client was driving is the main road, while the road the deceased was driving is a secondary road," Akarsu said and asserted that the camera recordings showed that her client entered the crossroads in a safe way. She also stated that the speed of the vehicle her client was driving was at 30 kilometers per hour as determined by the İdil Gendarme Commandership. 

Akarsu also stated that children below the age of 11 should not ride a bicycle on a main road according to the related law and did not agree to the objections the lawyer of the deceased makes to the forensic medicine institution (ATK) reports. 

The prosecutor asked for the speed of the armored vehicle to be determined again.

Intervening lawyers' requests

The intervening lawyers made other requests from the court as well.

Zeynep Eker from the Women and Children's Rights Commission of the Diyarbakır Bar said that they support the prosecutor's request. However, she also said that there is a contradiction between the accident report and the ATK report. While the ATK report states that the suspect slowed down when entering the crossroads, there is no such information in the accident report. "We have asked for this issue to be made clear and also for the person seen in the camera recordings to be identified," she said. 

Ferhat Altuğ from the Şırnak Bar Association requested that the direction angle of the vehicle at the moment of the accident should also be determined. 

The court ruled that the discipline file of the suspect should be requested from the related authorities and that the file should be sent back to the Forensic Medicine Institution to ask if it is possible to determine the speed of the vehicle during the accident.

The next hearing will be held on January 16, 2024. (AS/PE)