Turkish police 'catch' suspect in prison

ISTANBUL

DHA photo

A judge's failure to lift an individuals old arrest warrant led to police “capturing” an already imprisoned man in the Anatolian province of Çankırı.

Twenty-three-year old R.D. was detained by the police in Çankırı prison, where he was in the process of serving the third year of a seven-year sentence for injuring a man, daily Milliyet reported today.

Police had been searching for R.D. for the last three years, on repeated orders from a prosecutor in Çankırı to apprehend the man and bring him before a court of law. After three years of searching, the police found R.D. in Çankırı prison and told the prison administration they would be taking R.D. to appear in court. The police, at that point, had not checked what crime R.D. was currently in prison for, which turned out to be the same crime his arrest warrant was issued for.  

In court R.D. told Judge Ömer Faruk Eminağaoğlu that the crime he was sent to prison for and the crime he was currently being held for by police were the same. "I have been in prison for the last three years for injuring a man, and I will be released in 2016," R.D. said. 

Eminağaoğlu had R.D. sent back to Çankırı prison and asked for the records of his conviction. The records revealed R.D.'s trial had ended in 2009 and was finalized after being approved by the Supreme Court of Appeals. However, a judge’s failure to lift the search warrant on R.D. led to authorities’ continued search, even though the man was already convicted.

R.D. pressed charges with the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) against the judges and prosecutors who failed to lift his search warrant.