Hearing in case of man killed by drug dealers canceled

ISTANBUL

Hasan Ferit Gedik's mother and father have also attended the hearing. AA Photo

The first hearing on the killing of 21-year-old Hasan Ferit Gedik after a number of people were raked with bullets Sept. 30, 2013 while marching against drug dealers in the Anatolian-side neighborhood Gülsuyu was canceled Aug. 14, citing poor security conditions.

Prosecutors demand between 11 and 269 years in jail for the 35 suspects accused of “intentional homicide, using violence and force and deliberate wounding and pillaging.”

An initial brawl broke out when lawyers were refused entry by the police, who took measures inside and outside of the court.

Mother Nuray Gedik had a nervous breakdown when she was also refused entry by the police.

Tumult also occurred in the court room between the suspects and main opposition Republican People’s Party deputies Mahmut Tanal and Hüseyin Aygün.

The suspects were then taken to a cell and the court was canceled. Friends of Gedik then proceeded to chant slogans inside of the courthouse.

Gedik’s murder was one in a series of violent incidents that occurred in the neighborhood due to the ongoing conflict between drug dealers in the area and leftist groups with the residents backing the latter, regardless of their political views.