Police Allegedly Kill a Young Person in Diyarbakır

Click to read the article in Turkish (1) (2) / Kurdish

It has been alleged that 20-year-old Recep Hantaş, who was sitting with a friend in Sümerpark in Turkey's southeastern province of Diyarbakır at around 4 a.m., lost his life after being shot in the head by police.

Hantaş was 20 years years old.

As reported by Mezopotamya Agency (MA), while sitting in the park with his friend, whose name has not been reported in the news, Hantaş was shot due to a fire opened by police.

While Hantaş lost his life at the scene of incident, his friend, who was the witness of the incident, has been taken into custody.

The deceased body of Hantaş was taken from the mortuary of Dicle University Hospital yesterday (April 14) and put to rest in Yeniköy Graveyard.

Brother Hantaş: Police said he was killed by mistake

Efe Hantaş, the big brother of Recep Hantaş, stated, "Police officers said that my brother was killed by mistake."

Efe Hantaş added the following:

"While we were still shocked by the incident, police officers came to us and wanted us to immediately take the body of my brother from the mortuary and bring it to the graveyard. They were very nervous.

"When we took the deceased body of my brother to the Yeniköy Graveyard, we saw that the graveyard was blockaded.

"Armored vehicles were parked in front of all doors of the graveyard, preventing the entry of people. They allowed no one except for us into the graveyard. While the religious rituals were being performed on the body, they pressured us into 'burying him as soon as possible before it gets crowded.' We had to bury him in a hurry due to police blockade.

"Recep previously told me that while the police were conducting a criminal record check on him, they called him a 'terrorist' and when my brother objected to it, he was threatened. For that reason, I would not believe either in a conflict or 'a shooting by mistake.'"

Statement by Diyarbakır Governorship

The Governorship of Diyarbakır has released a written statement regarding the death of Recep Hantaş by the bullet of a police.

Stating that Hantaş did not obey the stop warning, the Governorship has also informed that two police officers have been referred to court for arrest.

Listing the criminal records of Recep Hantaş and his friend R.Y. in the statement, the Governorship has stated:

"...upon seeing two people running towards our officers, a stop warning was made. While R.Y. obeyed the warning and surrendered, R.H., the other person, continued running. A warning shot was fired to stop him; however, the suspect did not stop and and he was neutralized by being shot.

"In the examination conducted at the scene of incident, a blank cartridge pistol, empty cartridge cases, kernels and pieces of a shirt were found in his vicinity." Concluding the statement, the Governorship has also announced that two police officers have been referred to court for arrest by the Diyarbakır Public Prosecutor's Office. (EKN/SD)

* Photograph: Mezopotamya Agency