An İstanbul court sentenced two defendants to life in prison for the killing of journalist and documentary filmmaker Hakan Tosun, who died after being attacked in Esenyurt in Oct 2025.
The Bakırköy 17th Heavy Penal Court handed down the sentences to Abdurrahman Murat and Adnan Şahin at the fourth hearing in the case, finding the defendants guilty of intentional killing.
Murat and Şahin joined the proceedings from prison through videoconference. Tosun’s family and lawyers Hakan Bozyurt and Cemal Yücel were present in the courtroom.
Journalists and those seeking to follow the hearing were not allowed into the main courtroom and instead watched on screens in an overflow room. Many others who could not find space remained outside the courthouse.
The hearing
After the hearing began, Tosun’s lawyers asked the court to convict the defendants of intentional killing.
“We repeat our requests. We ask that they be punished for intentional killing,” Yücel said.
Hakan Bozyurt, another lawyer for the Tosun family, argued that the attack was organized and said Yusuf Özakdağ, a third person seen on a motorcycle in camera footage, should also be tried as a defendant.
Tosun’s mother, Fatma Tosun, raised the same issue during the hearing, asking, “Why is the third person still outside?”
Footage contradicts witness statements
Bozyurt said video footage submitted throughout the trial showed that Tosun did not engage with the defendants before the attack.
“From the very beginning of the trial, we clearly showed through the footage how the killing in Esenyurt took place,” he said. “Hakan is sitting in one place and has no contact with anyone throughout the incident. I have watched it many times. Hakan never gets up and does not even raise his hand.
“The footage shows the defendant kicking Hakan violently in the head. It also shows him being assaulted while being held by the hair.”
Bozyurt further said witness statements claiming Tosun had not been beaten were contradicted by the camera footage.
Referring again to Özakdağ, the third person, he said footage showed him following events on Tosun’s motorcycle.
“Adnan Şahin gets out of his car and assaults Hakan. Şahin and Murat then leave by car. At that point, Yusuf Özakdağ gets on Hakan’s motorcycle and watches. The camera footage shows that he is watching. He stops the vehicle. Şahin later comes back and assaults him,” Bozyurt said.
He added that the forensic report was consistent with Tosun having died as a result of the assault.
“Hakan did not react in any way. He was beaten repeatedly and severely enough to cause his death,” Bozyurt said.
Murat and Şahin repeated their previous statements and asked to be released. Their lawyers sought acquittal.
The court ultimately convicted both men of intentional killing and sentenced each to life imprisonment.
Background
Tosun was an independent journalist and documentarist who reported on ecology and displacement-related issues.
His work covered topics including people affected by urban transformation projects in İstanbul, urban development issues, rights violations in Hatay after the earthquake, environmental and displacement struggles in Akbelen and İliç, campaigns regarding horses on the Princes’ Islands, and animal rights violations.
He was attacked on the night of Oct 10, 2025, while walking home in Esenyurt, İstanbul, and was later taken to a hospital.
His family said they were unable to reach him for hours after the attack. They learned about 27 hours later that he had been found unconscious and taken to Başakşehir Çam and Sakura City Hospital.
Tosun died after spending three days in intensive care.
Police detained Murat, then 18, and Şahin, then 24, during the investigation. They were formally arrested on Oct 12, 2025, on charges of intentional injury.
(CA/FY/VK)
