Prosecutor dismisses Erdoğan’s complaint against Gezi victim’s mother

Ali Dağlar ISTANBUL

DHA Photo

A Turkish prosecutor has dismissed a lawsuit from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s lawyers after they filed a complaint against Hatice Cömert, the mother of fallen Gezi protester Abdullah Cömert for recent comments.

Lawyers of Erdoğan filed the complaint against Hatice Cömert, the mother Abdullah Cömert, over her words she uttered while visiting a condolence tent on Feb. 21 for Özgecan Aslan, a university student who was brutally killed by a minibus driver in southern Turkey.

“I hope Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will not be able to wear a shroud. I hope he will not have the privilege of wearing that shroud. I hope he will burn to death,” the mother said.

Erdoğan’s lawyers cited the Turkish Criminal Code’s 106th article and demanded Cömert be sentenced from between six months to two years for uttering threats against the head of state.

But the prosecutor’s office rejected the complaint and dismissed the charges, saying Cömert’s words were not a threat but a prayer, according to the Cömert family’s lawyer, Erhan Biner.

Erdoğan can appeal the prosecutor’s dismissal within 15 days.

Abdullah Cömert died on June 2, 2013, after being hit by a tear gas canister during the height of the protests.

Zafer Cömert, his brother, was briefly detained earlier this week on charges of participating and organizing an illegal protest