Unlicensed driver released after ramming into 10 pedestrians on sidewalk

İsmail Saymaz - İSTANBUL

A driver has been released by a judge after ramming into 10 pedestrians walking on a sidewalk in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakır, although he has no driving license.

Enes Aslan, 18, lost control of his uncle’s car while speeding on Diclekent Boulevard before hitting another car, pitching into a crowded sidewalk on June 24.

The car hit 10 people, critically injuring four of them.

Aslan defended himself before the judge at the Diyarbakır 2nd Peace Magistrate on June 25, claiming that he lost control of the car after one of his passengers “intervened” with the steering wheel.

Citing judicial discrection, the judge released the driver, who also admitted that he had no driving license.

Attorneys and relatives of the injured objected the ruling, insisting that the incident is serious enough that Aslan should be on trial under arrest.

Mecit Amaç, the uncle of Mehdiye Amaç, told daily Hürriyet that “almost all the bones” in his nephew's body was broken, while her brain and lungs were seriously damaged in the incident.

“There is no reasonable explanation for the release. This person has no driving license and the four people in the hospital, including my nephew, may still die because of this incident. We fail to understand the ruling. Would the judge issue such a ruling if one of the casualties was his own beloved one?” Amaç said.