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Berkin Elvan was commemorated at his grave in İstanbul's Feriköy on the eighth anniversary of his death today (March 11).
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Shot in the head with a tear gas canister fired by a police officer in İstanbul on June 26, 2013 during the Gezi Park protests, Berkin Elvan (14) lost his life on March 11, 2014, 269 days after being shot.
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The commemoration held at his grave today was attended by Berkin Elvan's mother Gülsüm Elvan, father Sami Elvan and his relatives as well as Republican People's Party (CHP) İstanbul Chair Canan Kaftancıoğlu and Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) İstanbul MP Musa Piroğlu.
As reported by sendika.org news website, police took strict security measures at the entrance of the cemetery in Feriköy and searched the ones who wanted to attend the commemoration ceremony.
Sami Elvan and Gülsüm Elvan spoke at the grave of their deceased child. While father Sami Elvan lashed out at the court cases filed against them, mother Gülsüm Elvan said, "We will speak for live against death, for peace against war. Our struggle will continue. We won't let children die."
What happened?On June 16, 2013, Berkin Elvan was hospitalized due to grave head injuries after the police intervention in the district of Okmeydanı in İstanbul. When he was admitted to the Okmeydanı Research Hospital, his heart had reportedly stopped already. Suffering from a brain hemorrhage, Elvan went through at least five surgeries. On January 5, 2014, Elvan turned 15 in his comatose. He died on March 11, 269 days after being shot. While the prosecutor investigating the incident was changed for six times, the investigation was completed on December 7, 2016. Prepared by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, the indictment demanded that police officer F.D., who was referred to as the only defendant, be penalized on charge of "killing with eventual intent." The 11-page indictment sent to the İstanbul 17th Heavy Penal Court has been accepted. A verdict of non-prosecution has been given for 42 police officers, who previously made their depositions as part of the investigation into the death of Elvan. Speaking to bianet, Oya Aslan, one of the attorneys for the Elvan family, stated that a lawsuit was filed only against a single police officer who was on the scene of incident and added that since the lawsuit was filed for "killing with eventual intent", rather than for "wilful murder", it has reduced the foreseen prison sentence to 20 years. The İstanbul 17th Heavy Penal Court handed down its ruling in the Berkin Elvan case at the final hearing on June 18, 2021. The court has ruled that police officer F.D. shall be sentenced to 16 years, 8 months in prison on charge of "killing with eventual intent". However, the court has not arrested the defendant police officer. An international travel ban has been imposed on F.D. He is still on duty as a police officer. |
(AS/SD)
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