Trial of police officer accused of killing Gezi protester set to commence

ANKARA

In their objection, the lawyers said in judicial cases, governorships have no authority, and Article 161/5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CMK) allows direct inquiry into those who abuse duty, Anadolu Agency reported July 19. DHA Photo

A criminal court has reversed another criminal court’s suspension of the trial of a police officer accused of shooting a Gezi Park protester dead in Ankara following an objection by the Ankara Public Prosecutor’s Office. The trial is set to commence soon.

“A public servant cannot have the duty of killing or injuring,” the public prosecutor wrote in his objection, daily Radikal reported July 19.

Previously, the 6th Criminal Court suspended the case and returned it to the Ankara Public Prosecutor’s Office, saying that the crime had been committed while the police officer was on duty, so permission from the Ankara Governorship was necessary for the trial to proceed.

The decision to suspend the trial was also objected to by the lawyers of deceased protester Ethem Sarısülük’s family. In their objection, the lawyers said in judicial cases, the governorship has no authority, and Article 161/5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CMK) allows direct inquiry into those who abuse duty, Anadolu Agency reported July 19. The petition submitted by the lawyers demanded the suspension by the criminal court be revoked.

“In criminal cases, the governorship has no authority. On June 1, 2013 starting from 12 p.m., which was the beginning of events, all authority belongs to the Ankara Public Prosecutor’s Office and all law enforcement officers at the crime scene were, by then, on judicial task,” Anadolu quoted the lawyers as saying in the petition. The lawyers added that according to CMK Article 161/5, security forces who abuse their duty and those who show negligence can be investigated directly by public prosecutors.

Furthermore, the lawyers noted that a decision delivered by the General Penal Board of the Supreme Court of Appeals in 1999 read, “Crimes of police officers committed during investigation of a crime must be judged pursuant to general rules.”

“Even if for a moment it is accepted that he was on administrative duty, the defendant’s attitude and behavior exceeded administrative duty and turned into judicial duty at the moment of the event,” the lawyers said.