One Found Guilty for Fire That Claimed Six Children's Lives

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In the case regarding the fire that broke out in 2015 in a Quran course building in southeastern province Diyarbakır and took six children's lives, educator Faruk Işık has been sentenced to 9 years and 3 months in prison and the other five defendants have been acquitted.

The fire broke out in a Quran course affiliated with the Office of Mufti (a religious public official) in Kulp district in Diyarbakır. The six defendants of the case were not arrested.

The final hearing of the case has been held at the Diyarbakır 6th Heavy Penal Court. Attorneys of defendants and complainants were present at the hearing.

Five people have been acquitted

The court has sentenced Faruk Işık, an educator at the course, to 9 years and 3 months in prison for "recklessly causing multiple deaths." Attorneys' demand for an arrest has been rejected.

The court has acquitted Mukhtar Özcan Ceylan, Board of Elders members Abdullah Cengiz, Hanifi Dizmen, Hiyasettin Bartar and Sebahattin Çankaya, for whom the Prosecutor's Office demanded 15 years in prison for "recklessly killing and wounding more than one person."

What happened?

In a boarding Quran course affiliated with the Office of Mufti in Diyarbakır's Kulp district, a fire erupted on December 1, 2015 at 02.40 a.m. Six children, all of whom were 15 or 16 years old, were killed: Nur Muhammed Bayka, Mehmet Bingöl, Suat Çankaya, Serhat Sancar, Şahin Kahraman and Sabahattin Altun. Three children were wounded in the fire.

A lawsuit was filed at the Diyarbakır 6th Heavy Penal Court. The Prosecutor's Office demanded prison sentence from 3 years to 18 years and 6 months for Mukhtar Özan Ceylan and educator Faruk Işık and from 2 years to 15 years for other four defendants because of "recklessly killing and wounding more than one person." (AÖ/VK)