Gezi protester murder case begins Feb 3

KAYSERİ – Anadolu Agency

This photo shows people staging a protest against the local court's desicion to move the trial from Eskişehir to Kayseri for security reasons. DHA Photo

The first trial into the murdered 19-year-old Gezi Park protester Ali İsmail Korkmaz case will be held on Feb. 3, 2014 in the central Anatolian province Kayseri.

The trial has been relocated to Kayseri after the local court dealing with the case applied to the Justice Ministry to move the trial out of Eskişehir for "security reasons."

Korkmaz died in July after spending 38 days in a coma induced by a savage beating, which was caught on film by a nearby hotel’s cameras, during the Gezi Park protests in the central Anatolian province Eskişehir.

His death sparked outrage all across Turkey, throwing more fuel into the fire in a context in which protesters were denouncing the excessive violence used by security forces against demonstrators.

Eight men, including four police officers, are facing prison sentences over the murder of Korkmaz. The case has recently triggered fresh controversy after the Justice Ministry approved the request to move the trial to Kayseri, a city located more than 500 kilometers from Eskişehir, citing security reasons.

One police officer accused of participating in the beating, identified only as M.S., faces life imprisonment, according to the prosecutor’s indictment.

The Gezi Park protests in Turkey, which begun at the end of May against a government redevelopment plan, was suppressed by the government with the use of excessive police force.

The attempt to save the last green area in Taksim Square evolved into the biggest turmoil in the country’s recent history, with 2 months of long protests across the country, resulting in the death of five protesters and a police officer, along with thousands injured.