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Put on trial for shooting 14-year-old Berkin Elvan to death with a tear gas canister during Gezi resistance in 2013, police officer F.D. submitted a request and wanted to be involved in another trial as a "plaintiff". While the name of F.D. is not mentioned in this second trial, his request has been accepted on the grounds that "he was turned into a target."
In the related trial, journalists Canan Coşkun, Can Uğur and Ali Açar are charged with "turning a counterterrorism official into a target." However, the police officer mentioned in this trial is not F.D.
With his request for involvement accepted, an instruction was notified to the eastern Van province, where F.D. is currently on duty, so that he could give a statement as a plaintiff about his complaint.
The İstanbul 34th Heavy Penal Court sent a writ foreseeing that F.D. would testify on September 17, 2020. However, he did not attend the instructional hearing held at the Van 4th Heavy Penal Court on this day.
CLICK - Lawsuit Against 3 Journalists Over News Report
Name of F.D. not mentioned in the news
Journalists Canan Coşkun, Ali Açar and Can Uğur are standing trial on charge of "turning a counterterrorism official into a target" as per the 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.
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 for 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/SD)
