Trabzon court deems pit bull dog a ‘weapon,’ increases man’s sentence

ISTANBUL

A court in Trabzon province in northern Turkey has ruled that a pit bull dog should be deemed a “weapon” in the case of a man who threatened his ex-girlfriend with the dog, increasing the man’s jail sentence from three years to six years, daily Habertürk has reported.

During an argument the sentenced man reportedly forced his ex-girlfriend, 29, into an unused building on Dec. 3 while holding the dog on a leash to threaten her.

The victim subsequently rushed to a police station to file a complaint. In his statement to police the man denied any wrongdoing.

Upon a police investigation, the prosecutor assigned to the case argued that the pit bull was used as a “weapon,” requesting that the man be tried on charges of “restricting personal freedoms via threatening or tricking” and “minor injuring and defamation.”

The case, tried at the Trabzon Second Court of First Instance, initially sentenced the man to three years in jail. It then increased his sentence to six years, without the possibility of a reduction due to good behavior, based on the justification that the pit bull had been used threateningly as a weapon.