Court acquits police officer who killed waste worker in Diyarbakır

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The police officer who was put on trial for "killing with eventual intent" in the case concerning the shooting of Recep Hantaş, a waste worker, has been acquitted.

Hantaş, 20, was shot dead on April 14, 2019, while he was collecting waste in the Sümer Park in the Yenişehir district of the predominantly Kurdish-populated southeastern province of Diyarbakır.

The Diyarbakır 4th Heavy Penal Court yesterday (June 21) acquitted officer K.B. due to "lack of evidence" and refused to file a criminal complaint against the other officers who were at the scene.

Attorneys of the Hantaş family and the defendant attended the hearing while the officer was not present in the courtroom.

Prosecutor demanded a sentence

The prosecutor repeated their opinion that the defendant should be sentenced for "killing with eventual intent."

Mehmet Öner, an attorney of the family, pointed out that there were contradictions between the reports of the Forensic Medicine Institution (ATK) and the National Criminal Bureau, a private company, and demanded a new report be requested from Yıldız Technical University.

The court rejected this demand, concluding that the reports do not contradict each other and can set the basis for the verdict.

In the phases of investigation and prosecution, defendant and witness officers recounted that the slain person had began to run by saying, "I have a bomb on me," but there were no such radio talks, said attorney Ercan Yılmaz.

"It is evident that these recordings do not reflect the truth," he said, adding that radio recordings showed that an officer who asked whether the man used arms received a negative response.

"It is evident the conversation in the heat of the moment that the slain person did not use arms and he did not have a bomb on him from," he said. "Police officers at the scene made such statements in order to protect their colleague. These statements should not be trusted."

"The report is unscientific"

The ATK report found that there were two seconds between Hantaş falling on the ground and smoke rising from K.B.'s gun, and there was no one but K.B. who could see Hantaş from that angle, said Öner.

Yet, the crime reconstruction report was prepared to save the officer from receiving a sentence, he said.

"Even though there was no situation to use weapons, [Hantaş] was shot in the head by aiming. The only fault of my client was being there on that day. The verdict to be given today will influence the deterrence in future events."

He demanded the officer be sentenced and arrested.

Attorney Yakup Güven pointed to impunity, saying that the defendant would be in prison if he was not a police officer.

The attorney of the defendant, Mustafa Demir, said it was not possible to determine who whot Hantaş and demanded his client's acquittal as per the principle that "defendant benefits from suspicion."

The court acquitted the officer because there was no evidence beyond any doubt.

(AS/VK)