The police officer identified as the killer of Ethem Sarısülük has been cleared of all charges. Police officer, Ahmet Ş. has been released on grounds of “self-defense”, despite the expert’s report stating that “The bullet didn’t bounce, it was directly aimed at the head.”
Murderer of Ethem Sarısülük, an Ostim worker who had been shot in the head with a bullet fired by a police officer on June 1st during the Kızılay Square demonstrations, was cleared of all charges on grounds of self-defense. Yesterday, PM Erdoğan said, “Our police forces have written a heroic saga during the Gezi Park interventions.” Apparently, the Turkish judicial system has followed the path of the Prime Minister.
Ahmet Ş. entered the court building with 20 other police officers to avoid being photographed. The police officer, whose shooting of Sarısülük was caught on tape in a video recording of the incident, arrived at the courthouse yesterday, to give his testimony to prosecutor Veli Dalgalı. Dalgalı sent him to the Ankara 13th Magistrates’ Court with the demand of an arrest. The police officer first testified to the public prosecutor. However, the judge refused the demand of arrest and decided on his release.
“I OPENED FIRE INTO THE AIR”
Following his testimony, the prosecutor demanded Ahmet Ş.’s arrest. It was reported that in his testimony at the Ankara 13th Magistrates’ Court Ahmet Ş. said, “All of a sudden, I found myself in the middle of a group of protesters. They took my helmet and my baton. They attacked me and started kicking me. I was afraid that they were going to lynch and kill me. What struck attention was that the testimony Ahmet Ş had given was very similar to the testimonies given in almost all of the cases of murder resulting from the shot of a gun by the police.
Lawyers of the Sarısülük family stated that the release of the police officer was yet another example of how the government’s, “We won’t let our police be worn down” attitude effects judicial organs. Lawyers also said that they will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
IT WAS SELF-DEFENSE
In the court decision, it was stated that the police officer Ahmet Ş. acted in self-defense. However, the video of police shooting and killing Ethem Sarısülük is very clear. In the video, it is seen that the police officer runs by himself towards the protesters, who are doing nothing but shouting slogans, and fires his gun even though there is no attack to him.
THE ROAD TO ECtHR IS OPEN NOW
Lawyer Kazım Bayraktar, said the following in reaction to the court decision: “This court order is a reflection of the government and PM’s “We won’t let our police be worn down” attitude. No justice should be expected from any judicial organ during these course of events in Turkey. If this incident had been carried out by an ordinary citizen instead of a police officer, he would have been arrested by now. With this court decision, the police is openly being encouraged to commit crime. This is, in a way, a guarantee to the police forces that they will be protected by the judicial organs in the case that they commit a crime. With this decision, it has become apparent that Turkey’s domestic law will not be just during these times. Now it’s time for us to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.”
Following Sarısülük’s death, no investigation was opened for days. The name of the police officer was kept secret. Under the scope of the investigation, a report of the crime scene was requested from the gendarme expert. A team of 2 gendarme experts investigated the crime scene where Sarısülük was killed.
GENDARME: THERE WAS DIRECT AIM TO THE HEAD
The gendarme team investigated the witness testimonies, crime scene MOBESE and security camera records and presented the report they prepared to the prosecutor. In the report it was stated that, “The bullet didn’t bounce. There was direct aim at the head. When camera records are investigated, it is seen that there were 4.8 meters between where Sarısülük was shot and where the police officer fired his gun.”
9 MILIMETERS
The preliminary autopsy report was also included in the investigation folder. According to this report, the exact cause of Sarısülük’s death was due to a bullet from a firearm. The bullet that entered the scull and hit the brain is from a 9mm caliber gun.
This is how he was shot:
24 June 2013
Source; yurtgazetesi.com.tr
This post is also available in: Turkish