Prosecutor demands up to 23 years for hooligan

İZMİR

A jail term of up to 23 years has been requested for the assailant involved in the tragic incident of last November’s İzmir derby for throwing a signal flare.

The derby between the western province of İzmir’s rivals, Göztepe and Altay, was suspended when a signal flare was thrown by Altay fan Furkan Ersanlı at the Göztepe stand, injuring a man and two children.

Seconds after, a Göztepe fan named Mehmet Nihat Aydın injured Altay’s goalkeeper Ozan Evrim Özenç with a corner pole. The police detained 20 suspects from both sides in one of the most tragic football events in the country.

The prosecutor demanded a prison sentence of up to 15 years for Aydın on charges of “attempting to kill deliberately” and up to 23 years for Ersanlı on charges of “attempting to kill deliberately,” “taking dangerous equipment into sports fields and disrupting the competition order,” and “endangering public security deliberately.”

Ersanlı entered the stadium by hiding the flare brought in the fan’s bus to the banner in his hand, the indictment said, whereas he claimed in his statement that he found the flare by chance and mistook it for a torch.

Demanded to be punished for the same crimes, 18 other defendants were freed by a judicial control decision.

Sports commentators also reacted to the derby fight. “They are not hooligans but terrorists,” said daily Hürriyet columnist Uğur Meleke, asking the authorities to punish the hooligans with harsh sentences. “If this issue is taken lightly, bigger stadium terror events may occur in the future,” he added.

“While there is no historical tension between the two teams, the events that took place were incomprehensible,” said Güntekin Onay, another commentator for daily Hürriyet.

The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) has forfeited both teams due to the events.

The fight forced players and referees to go into the locker room. Mehmet Çakır, the fan who had severe damage to his jaw and teeth and burns on his left side, had to undergo surgery.

There was also tension in the locker room corridors while waiting for the referee’s decision. Police teams intervened in the chaos between the football players and managers of the two teams.

Altay’s players and fans were kept waiting in the stadium for a while after the match was canceled by the referee.

After Altay’s players left the stadium in police vans, the black-and-white side’s fans left the stadium in buses under supervision after waiting for about seven hours.