Autopsy report discounts police’s account of youth’s death

DİYARBAKIR – Doğan News Agency

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An autopsy has revealed that a 19-year-old who was killed in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır during a Feb. 10 protest died because he was crushed by a police tank, not because a grenade exploded in his hand, as many in the media had reported.

Previously, Diyarbakır police had claimed that Şahin Öner had died after a grenade that he was allegedly about to throw had exploded prematurely in his hand.

But the Diyarbakır Public Prosecutor’s report said there was no evidence of any grenade and that his death had instead been caused by the tank.

The same report also said ink was found on his fingers, suggesting that his dead body had been taken to the Şehitlik Police Station before being sent to the morgue.

Öner’s father, Mehmet Şirin Öner, said eyewitnesses also told him that his son was hit by a tank and killed, according to daily Radikal.

Diyarbakır Gov. Mustafa Toprak had also previously claimed that a bomb had exploded in his hands, causing his death.