‘They don’t want us to seek justice’

Click to read the article in Turkish

Adnan Cömert, the brother of Abdullah Cömert, who lost his life in after being hit with a tear gas cartridge by a police officer in the southern province of Hatay during the 2013 Gezi Resistance, criticized the decision of the court in the Gezi Trial.

Defining the decision as "political," Cömert noted that the court did not give a fair decision regarding the death of his brother as well.

At the final hearing of the Gezi case on April 25, the İstanbul 13th Heavy Penal Court sentenced Osman Kavala to aggravated life imprisonment for "attempting to overthrow the government" and seven others — Mücella Yapıcı, Çiğdem Mater, Hakan Altınay, Mine Özerden, Can Atalay, Tayfun Kahraman, and Yiğit Ali Ekmekçi — to 18 years imprisonment for "aiding" Kavala in the attempt.

'My mother had a stroke'

"It was always the same regarding Gezi Trials," said Cömert and continued:

"Everything is dependent on one person's orders. It was always the same regarding Gezi Trials. It is a political decision. They will get harsher as elections approach"

"I know Mücella Yapıcı and Can Atalay among the ones who were arrested. They were always with us."
"They were coming to the trials and supporting us. Since we have health issues, we could not join the trials. My mother had a stroke."

"Let the police do not hurt people anymore"

Regarding the case of his brother's death, Cömert noted that only one person was on trial all these years.

"Only one person was on trial and Turkey gave a defense of 60 pages on why his superiors were not put on trial in my brother's case. If the Constitutional Court rejects our appeal, we will take it to the European Court of Human Rights."

"11 times we went to Balıkesir by bus or private car"

The case of Abdullah Cömert's death was transferred to Balıkesir from Hatay upon the lawyer representing the suspect applied for it. Adnan Cömert said that the family had suffered a lot for that.

"They could transfer the case to Mersin or Adana. Why did they transfer it to Balıkesir instead? To stop us from demanding justice. We could not go to Balıkesir even by plane. 11 times we went to Balıkesir by bus or private car. It was like torture."

Attorney Can: The ones who gave the order were not tried

The lawyer of the Cömert family, Eren Can, gave information about the case.

"The police officer was being tried on "killing with eventual intent". He was supposed to be sentenced to 20-25 years of imprisonment. The decision of 13 years was given by two against one vote." he continued:

" However, after the Court of Cassation overturned it to "killing by conscious negligence" the suspect was sentenced to 6 years, 10 months and 15 days"

"The ones who gave that order were not tried. They were all dismissed. We applied to the European Court of Human Rights for that. The files regarding violation of the right to live, violation of the right to a fair trial, and the transfer decision are at the Constitutional Court now." (MD/AÖ/AS/EMK/TB)