Istanbul judge opposes to court’s sentence for woman who killed abusive fiancée

Istanbul judge opposes to court’s sentence for woman who killed abusive fiancée

Ceylan Sever – ISTANBUL

A judge in Istanbul has voiced her opposition to a local court ruling that sentenced a woman to eight years and nine months in prison for killing her fiancée after she stabbed him with a knife in self-defense

The female member of the panel of judges said in a statement that she found the sentence handed down too high.

“The engaged couple’s marriage was going to take place in a short span of time. There was no big tension or animosity between them. On the day of the incident, the deceased had come to the suspect’s house and subjected her to violence,” Gamze Özdemir, the judge, said in a statement following the ruling.

Özdemir said she wanted the suspect’s release.

Ayşenur Yılmaz was reported to have killed the man on July 3, 2017, four days prior to their wedding, after getting beaten up with the stick of a vacuum cleaner.

Yılmaz said in her defense that she did “not act with the intention to kill.”

“There is self-defense involved in the incident, therefore there should be impunity,” said Yılmaz’s lawyer, Atanur Demir, during the trial.