Officer receives prison sentence for fatal shooting of 20-year-old in Van

Photo: MA

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Erhan Görür, a 20-year-old man, was shot and killed on June 14, 2020, in the Başkale district of the mostly Kurdish-populated eastern province of Van.

The trial of Lieutenant Y.E., who was accused of "involuntary killing" in connection with the incident, announced its verdict in today's hearing.

The Van 5th Heavy Penal Court sentenced Lieutenant Y.E. to 6 years and 8 months in prison, Mezopotamya Agency (MA) reported.

Prosecutor's claim of "self-defense"

The defendant did not attend the hearing. The prosecutor, who announced his opinion, evaluated the crime as "self-defense" and therefore requested the court to give a ruling that "there is no need for punishment."

Ebru Demirtepe, the lawyer for the Görür family, said that they did not accept the prosecutor's opinion. She pointed out that there were many deficiencies, such as contradictory statements by the defendant soldier, no crime scene investigation, and witness soldiers not being heard by their side.

Demirtepe further stated that an effective investigation had not been conducted into the incident.

She said, "There is no situation of 'involuntary killing' when looking at the statements of the defendant soldier. The defendant shot and killed Görür with excessive intervention despite going to the region upon a smuggling report. There is no self-defense situation here."

Demirtepe demanded that the defendant soldier Erkoç be punished for "intentional killing" and the sentence should be higher than the lower limit.

"Ineffective investigation"

Sinan Özaraz, head of the Van Bar Association, said that rejecting their participation requests was illegal. He pointed out that an effective investigation should be conducted, and evidence should be collected.

"In the Smuggling Law, it says 'You cannot fire unless there is an attack with a weapon.' The defendant soldier is going to the scene upon a report, but he fires at people. Even though there is no attack, the firing action takes place. Therefore, there is an intention here.

"Similarly, when the defendant soldier says 'I fired 4 shots' and Görür has 5 separate gunshot wounds on his body, this is 'intention.' Therefore, Erkoç should be tried for the charge of 'intentional killing'."

The court announced that Erkoç was sentenced to 6 years and 8 months in prison for "causing the death and injury of more than one person with conscious negligence." The decision was made by majority vote. However, one member of the court panel placed a dissenting opinion, stating that Erkoç should be tried for the charge of "killing with probable intent." (AS/VK)