Police officer receives 25-year prison sentence for killing film worker

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The police officer who killed Çetin Kaya, a film worker, in November 2021 in İstanbul has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for "intentional killing."

At the second hearing of the case yesterday (December 28), the İstanbul Anadolu 13th Heavy Penal Court sentenced S.E., the officer, to life imprisonment but reduced the sentence due to the "good conduct" of the defendant.

S.E., who is remanded in custody, attended the hearing from prison via videoconference.

Opposition deputies Orhan Sarıbal and Barış Atay also followed the hearing.

An eyewitness said he had seen police officers attempting to handcuff Kaya and one of them had shot Kaya twice after a tussle.

The other witness, a police officer who was at the scene, said Kaya had disobeyed the warning to stop. An officer managed to catch him and asked help from S.E. to handcuff him, the officer said.

As a precaution, they had loaded their weapons, and S.E.'s weapon had went off while they were trying to put a handcuff on Kaya, he added.

After the statements, the prosecutor demanded a life sentence for S.E. for "intentional killing."

Asked about his last words, S.E. said he was sorry but what he did wasn't intentional. "I wouldn't like such a thing to happen. ı didn't do it intentionally."

The court sentenced Kaya to life imprisonment but reduced the sentence due to "good conduct." (HA/VK)