Perpetrator given aggravated life imprisonment without any sentence reduction

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"Considering that this male perpetrator was not given any good conduct time in any way at all and he was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment, I think it will have an impact on the cases of other women who were killed as a result of male violence. Men were encouraged by seeing that male violence ended in impunity in the justice system of Turkey..."

It is how lawyer Aslı Pasinli from the Women's Rights Center of the Diyarbakır Bar Association has commented on the court ruling in the trial of lawyer Müzeyyen Boylu, who lost her life as a result of male violence.

Defendant Mesut I. was standing trial for "killing" lawyer Müzeyyen Boylu. When the man killed Boylu, their divorce suit was still ongoing. The final hearing of the lawsuit filed into this feminicide was held at the Diyarbakır 7th Heavy Criminal Court earlier today (September 28).

While the defendant attended the final hearing from prison via the Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS), the defendant's attorney Kutbettin Odabaşı, Müzeyyen Boylu's mother Türkan Boylu and the family's attorneys Cihan Aydın, Hatice Demir, Aslı Pasinli, Serdar Özer, Öykü Çakmak and Sinan Tanrıkulu were present in the courtroom.

'Boylu failed complaints for 3 times'

Aslı Pasinli, one of the attorneys for Boylu, said:

"What we see missing in the opinion as to the accusations presented by the prosecution is the points of killing with monstrous feelings and premeditation. The provision of the weapon has not been investigated in detail and no effective investigation was carried out into monstrous feelings and premeditation in the investigation phase.

"The defendant's statement about the date of February 7, 2018 is a statement that aims to mislead the court. This opinion as to the accusations is the same as the one in the Emine Bulut case.

"We request that the court reconsider the point about monstrous feelings through the remarks of our colleague. Moreover, we request that the Article 62 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) be not implemented. Because the victim made three complaints about threat."

No sentence reduction

After the attorneys presented their statements of defense, the prosecutor demanded that the defendant be sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment on charge of "wilful killing of the spouse."

The court has ruled that perpetrator Musa I. shall be sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment on charge of "killing the spouse with a firearm." No good conduct time or sentence reduction has been applied.

'It will be deterrent for men'

Pasinli has commented on the judgement for bianet. Indicating that the court has given a ruling in the way that they wanted legally, Pasinli has noted that this judgement is an exemplary one in that the sentence of the perpetrator has not been reduced. Pasinli has briefly said:

"Moreover, he has been given an administrative fine for using a firearm. Quite a victory has been won in this file. Because, in such cases of feminicides, we normally see good conduct times or sentence reductions in the name of behavior in court. This time, it did not happen and this is a result that has been achieved entirely thanks to the women's solidarity.

"The biggest problem about these cases is impunity and the sentence reduction applied for lame reasons. An effective judgement has been passed in terms of feminicides and male violence. When taken together with the policy of impunity, the judgement handed down today is important to finally have the social justice that the society deserves and has long been awaiting.

Slogan of 'not male, but real justice' comes to life

"It is a judgement that has eased the public conscience and I think that it will have an empowering impact on the women who were subjected to similar attacks. It will also have a deterrent effect on perpetrators of violence.

"We have also seen the result of following up a case through women's solidarity. The women's rights centers of all bar associations have laid claim to this case. It was a very important support. The slogan of 'Not male justice, but real justice' has come to life in this trial."

What happened?

In Turkey's southeastern province of Diyarbakır, Mesut I. killed 43-year-old lawyer Müzeyyen Boylu on May 19, 2019. When he killed Boylu, their divorce lawsuit was still ongoing. After leaving their children to his family, the perpetrator turned himself in to the police. It was understood that Müzeyyen Boylu was killed despite two protection orders.

The bill of indictment prepared by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office demanded aggravated life sentence for Mesut I. on charges of "willful, premeditated killing with monstrous feelings and by tormenting." The indictment also demanded up to 3 years in prison for Mesut I. on charge of "possessing firearms and its bullets without permission."

In the first hearing of the case, the court did not accept the NGO's and bar associations' request for intervening in the case. (EMK/SD)