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Upon the ruling of the İstanbul 17th Heavy Penal Court, an examination has been conducted at the scene of incident where Berkin Elvan was shot with a tear gas canister six years ago.
In the last hearing of the case regarding the death of Berkin Elvan, who lost his life after being shot with a tear gas canister during Gezi Park protests in Okmeydanı, İstanbul in 2013, the court ruled that an examination should be conducted at the scene of incident.
CLICK - Court Rules for Examination at Scene of Incident 6 Years Later
The 22nd hearing of the case regarding Mehmet Ayvalıtaş, who lost his life in Gezi resistance as well, was also held at the İstanbul Anatolian 8th Heavy Penal Court in Kartal Courthouse today (April 10). The requests of Ayvalıtaş family concerning the expert report to be prepared based on the examination conducted at the scene of incident four years ago have been rejected.
'Examination at scene of incident' 6 years later
Before the examination conducted in Gaziler Street in Okmeydanı, where Berkin Elvan was shot to death, security forces closed the street and did not not allow the journalists to enter. The examination was conducted by the court board and the gendarmerie expert.
Defendant police officer F.D. did not attend the examination while witness Deniz Tarlak, family of Berkin Elvan, their attorneys Can Atalay and Çiğdem Akbulut and Republican People's Party (CHP) MP Sezgin Tanrıkulu were present at the scene of incident.
The examination was conducted in an hour, the photographs and video footages of the scene of incident were taken.
After the expert report is prepared by the panel of experts, it will be presented to the court.
The next hearing of the case will be held on May 8, 2019.
Experts couldn't prepare report 'as they were busy'
The trial regarding the death of Mehmet Ayvalıtaş, who lost his life after being hit by a vehicle in Ümraniye, İstanbul during Gezi resistance, continued today at the İstanbul Anatolian 8th Heavy Penal Court.
Giving its judgement on experts who submitted a petition to the court, stating that they could not prepare the expert report in the specified time period "because they were busy" and requesting additional time to prepare the report, the court board has granted the requests of the experts. In the event that the experts do not prepare the report in 15 days, the court will file a criminal complaint against the experts for "breach of duty."
The court has rejected the request of father Ali Ayvalıtaş for another examination to be conducted at the scene of incident in the second anniversary of Mehmet Ayvalıtaş's death and the request of the attorneys for examination of surveillance cameras in the vicinity and forensic reports.
The next hearing of the case will be held on June 2, 2019.
Berkin Elvan caseOn 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. |
Mehmet Ayvalıtaş caseMehmet Ayvalıtaş lost his life on June 2, 2013 after being hit by a vehicle driving towards the crowd marching through the 1 Mayıs Neighborhood in Ümraniye. The death of Ayvalıtaş was registered as a car accident. The driver of the vehicle was released on probation after his deposition. As part of the lawsuit filed into his death, defendants Mehmet Görkem Demirbaş and Cengiz Aktaş have been facing up to 15 years in prison on charge of "causing reckless killing and injury" as per the Article 85/2 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). The case has not been concluded yet. In the expert report submitted to the court, it was stated that "Ayvalıtaş is the primary and total negligent party in his own death." The report concluded that the two defendants were not faulty. In the 21st hearing of the case, the court ruled that the report to be prepared by the Extended Experts Commission of the Forensic Medicine Institute, Traffic Specialization Department shall be awaited. The case is still continuing. |
(AS/SD)
