Police officer arrested for killing transgender sex worker in Turkey’s İzmir

İZMİR – Demirören News Agency

A police officer who was previously detained for having shot a transgender sex worker dead in the Aegean province of İzmir has been arrested by a court order.

Hande Şeker was killed in a house in the central neighborhood of Alsancak on Jan. 9.

The 23-year-old off-duty police officer, known only by the initials A.D., entered the house in question, in which his friend was, at around 6:30 a.m. on Jan. 9.

The officer shot multiple rounds at Şeker and her colleague.

Şeker died at the scene due to two bullet wounds, while her co-worker was injured in her arm.

The police officer’s friend, a second-hand mobile phone dealer, was also injured from his foot by a ricochet.

The police who arrived at the scene of the incident detained both the off-duty police officer and his second-hand mobile phone deal friend. The latter was later released after testifying to officials, but the police was referred to a court.

On Jan. 10, the İzmir court ruled for the policeman’s arrest, jailing him pending trial.

In a statement, the LGBTI+ committee of the İzmir Bar Association said: “A public official, who was provided a weapon to ensure public security and whose weapon use is limited strictly by law, used the weapon on the day he was off duty and killed a person. This makes the situation grave.”

“It is not possible in social terms that the only responsible actor of this murder is the suspect police officer, as is the case with the murders of several transgender individuals. Transgender murders are political. What should be done is to see that these crimes are not individual petty crimes, to form an integrative and human rights-based policy, to bring an end to bans on LGBTI+ activities, and to defend life against hatred with all our power,” it added.