Family of dead Gezi protester files new complaint after footage revealed

ISTANBUL

Abdullah Cömert died on June 3, 2013, after taking part in protests in the southern province of Hatay.

The family of Abdullah Cömert, who was killed during the Gezi protests last summer, has filed a new complaint to the Hatay Prosecutor’s Office after purported footage of a vehicle shooting a gas canister at him was released by a television station.

Cömert, one of the protesters who took the streets in the southern province of Hatay in support of demonstrations that started in Gezi Park, died on June 3, 2013.

TV station Ulusal Kanal claimed that the footage clearly showed a police vehicle shooting a tear gas canister at Cömert. The family said in its complaint that the new footage showed that, despite protesters not behaving in a violent manner, the police had used excessive force by shooting at peacefully gathered protesters with tear gas. The complaint demanded the prosecution and arrest of the officials who were in the vehicle from which Cömert was allegedly shot. 

“Cömert’s death was caused by brain trauma and skull injuries caused by a tear-gas canister hit to the head,” a forensic report stated in October 2013.

The report also cited the witness Sedat Şener, saying he saw that Cömert was wounded by a tear gas canister.

Two police officers, Hacı Ali Demir and Ahmet Kuş, who gave their testimonies as witnesses, said they had not shot tear gas at an angle below 45 degrees.