Shooting Hantaş to death in a park, police officer faces up to 25 years in prison

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The Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has filed an indictment about the death of Recep Hantaş, who was shot to death by police while sitting with his friends in Sümerpark in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeastern province of Diyarbakır on April 14, 2019.

The prosecutor's office has requested that police officer B. be sentenced to 18 years to 25 years in prison for "killing with eventual intent."

The Diyarbakır 2nd Penal Judgeship of Peace arrested Kazım B. after the incident; however, on May 24 of the same year, Kazım B. was released following an arrest for 40 days despite strong criminal suspicion.

* Recep Hantaş

Three teams went to the park after a tip-off

The indictment has indicated that the incident happened following a tip-off. It has also cited the statements of the police officers who were on duty, the autopsy, crime scene investigation and ballistic reports, the footage of the surveillance cameras in the park and witness statements.

Following a tip-off that two people with masks on their faces and stones in their hands came to Sümerpark late at night, three police teams were referred to the area, according to the police minutes.

The minutes have indicated that "the police officers entered the park ready to shoot in the face of a suspicion of terrorism."

The minutes of the police cited in the indictment have also noted that Hantaş did not abide by the "stop" warning and the police fired their weapons into the air in response to this. The police officers who came to the scene of the incident said that they did not see who had shot Hantaş.

Adding the camera footage to the indictment as well, the prosecutor's office has stated that the moment when officer Kazım B. was seen in the footage, there was smoke coming from the barrel of his long-barreled gun; in the meanwhile, Hantaş entered the blind spot and fell on the ground.

Police officer: I fired my gun into the air

The indictment has also quoted the first statement of police officer Kazım B. The officer briefly said the following:

"As there were several different gunshots coming from inside the park and from the area that we could not see, I got the impression that we were in a conflict. As there were colleagues inside, I thought that there was a conflict and I loaded the long-barreled weapon in my hand.

"When we came to the corner of the Fine Arts building, I came face-to-face with a person wearing a mask and gloves. When the person saw me, he changed his direction and continued running towards the football pitch. The gunshots were ongoing in the meanwhile. I fired into the air with the long-barreled weapon that I had in my hand for once or twice."

In his statement, police officer Kazım B. said that he had not fired his weapon by specifically targeting Recep Hantaş.

'It is certain that he was killed by Kazım B.'

In the "evaluation and request" part of the indictment, the prosecutor's office has said that it has been confirmed by witness statements, camera footage and ballistic report that Kazım B. fired the long-barreled weapon that he was holding in his hand during the incident.

The prosecutor's office has also noted that with his statement "I fired into the air with the long-barreled weapon that I had in my hand for once or twice", the police officer has admitted that he fired shots.

Further in the indictment, the prosecutor has referred to the report prepared by the Forensic Information Specialization Department Audio and Visual Examination Branch, which has found that shots considered to be fired by police officer Kazım B. were opened towards the deceased person's direction of escape at 03:26:46 a.m. and towards his feet at 03:26:47 a.m.

While it has been indicated that police officer Kazım B. was in a position to target the deceased from his right back, it cannot be identified whether Kazım B. fired his weapon at that moment on the grounds that the video frame showing the moment of being shot is not clear.

All in all, the prosecutor has concluded that there is sufficient evidence to file a criminal case against Kazım B. for "killing with eventual intent."

What happened?

Recep Hantaş, a 20-year-old person sitting with a friend in Sümerpark in Diyarbakır at around 4 a.m., lost his life after being shot in the head by police. While Hantaş lost his life at the scene of the incident, his friend, who was the witness of the incident, was taken into custody.

He said that the police opened fire without a warning.

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

The Governor's Office of Diyarbakır said that Hantaş was shot dead because he disobeyed a stop warning. (HA/SD)