‘Man with machete’ fined 9,000 liras for injuring woman

ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency

Footage showing Çelebi attacking protesters had sparked outrage across the country during the Gezi protests. DHA Photo

An Istanbul court has fined the notorious “man with a machete” 9,000 Turkish Liras, in a case in which he attempted to injure a woman.

Sabri Çelebi, the owner of a shop in a Taksim Square, sparked outrage after he attacked Gezi protesters who were running from the police with a machete on July 6, 2013.

Çelebi has been fined on charges of “deliberately injuring a person” in a case that was opened after he hit a woman, identified pnly as E.Y., with the edge of a machete on her back.

Istanbul’s 27th Court of Peace first imposed a 180-day judicial fine, which took into account the crime, the manner in which it was committed, location, its timing and casualties. The court then increased the fine to 270 days after concluding that the machete was a “weapon,” but it was reduced to 225 days after he pleaded guilty to his crimes.

In accordance with Çelebi’s financial conditions, the court set the fine he must pay to 40 liras per day, which totals 9,000 liras for the 225-day judicial fine.

Çelebi is expected to pay the fine in four installments and if he is unable to pay he will be sent to prison, the court stated.

Following the incident, Çelebi immediately boarded a flight to Morocco on July 10, after which a court issued an arrest warrant for him. After being briefly detained following his return to Turkey, he was later released by the court. 

Çelebi, along with three other suspects, also faces from nine to 27 years in prison in another case, on charges of deliberately injuring people and resisting public officers. The trial is being heard by Istanbul’s 53rd Court of First Instance.