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A court has issued fined to three special operations police officers in the southeastern Mardin province for assaulting two people while they were wearing leşker, a traditional Kurdish attire.
The incident occurred on the night of December 31 when the officers hit B.K.'s (16) head against an armored vehicle and forced H.G. (18) to the ground, according to footage revealed by Mezopotamya Agency (MA).
The final hearing of the trial of four officers on charges of "causing simple injury with a weapon by abusing the authority of a public official (Article 86/3 of the Turkish Penal Code)," was held yesterday at the Nusaybin Penal Court of First Instance.
While the defendant police officers did not attend the hearing, the attorneys for the victims and defendants were present in the courtroom. The prosecutor demanded punishment for the police officers under Article 86/3.
Lawyers from the Freedom for Lawyers Association (ÖHD) and the Human Rights Commission of the Mardin Bar Association stated that the crime was not "intentional injury" but rather "torture driven by hatred and discrimination."
The lawyers requested that the court declare its lack of jurisdiction and refer the case to a heavy penal court. They also requested the defendants' arrest.
Rejecting the lawyers' requests, the court imposed a fine on the police officers identified as Ali A., Fatih Ş., Naim K. and Murat Y.
Initially, the court sentenced each police officer to 385 days of imprisonment and later converted the sentence to a fine.
The court determined the amount of the fine to be 18,000 Turkish Lira. The court decided that the fine would be paid in 20 installments and deferred the announcement of the verdict.
What happened?
On March 24, Mezopotamya Agency published footage showing special operations police officers assaulting two individuals, one aged 16 and the other 18, who were wearing traditional attire (leşker) in Nusaybin, Mardin, on New Year's Eve.
In the footage, the police officers were seen hitting B.K.'s head against an armored vehicle while subjecting H.G. to violence by forcing him to the ground.
Upon the complaint of B.K. and H.G., the prosecutor launched an investigation into the police officers, as well as initiating a "defamation" investigation against B.K. and H.G. based on the statements of the police officers. However, the prosecutor decided not to pursue charges of "defamation" against both the police officers and B.K. and H.G. (HA/VK)
