Prosecutors demand up to six years in jail for police officer who shot Uğur Kurt

ISTANBUL

DHA Photo

The police officer who shot a civilian during a crackdown on demonstrations in Istanbul’s Okmeydanı neighborhood in May is facing up to six years in prison on charges of involuntary manslaughter, according to the prosecutor’s indictment.

The victim, Uğur Kurt, was hit by a stray bullet fired by a police officer as he was attending a funeral service at a Cemevi, an Alevi house of worship, in Okmeydanı.

The prosecutor in the case, Hasan Yılmaz, argued that the police officer, identified only as S.K., committed recklessness and negligence by disobeying his supervisors and firing his weapon.

In his defense, S.K. said he had not received training for fire arms but only for gas canister rifles, and added that he did not have much experience in such interventions.

Prosecutors initially claimed that S.K. had fired his gun in self-defense. His testimony was only taken on Aug. 21, three months after the incident, and the investigation at the crime scene was also conducted after a significant delay, on Sept. 4, amid claims that the police were trying to whitewash the incident.

The killing had shocked many in Turkey due to video footage showing the moment when Kurt was struck. Another piece of footage that was discovered during the investigation shows S.K. firing his gun, but the distance and the angle between the two men was not recorded.