Turkish police officer sentenced for killing an unarmed protester
A Turkish police officer who shot and killed a protester during The Gezi Park protests of 2013, an incident that fueled further protests nationwide, has been sentenced to jail.
Radikal reports that the police officer Ahmet Sahbaz was sentenced to seven years and nine months in jail. Sahbaz was caught on camera shooting and killing 27-year-old protester Ethem Sarisuluk in the Turkish capital of Ankara's biggest square Kizilay, where tens of thousands had gathered to protest the ruling AKP party and prime minister's increasingly authoritarian regime.
The demonstration was a part of the Gezi Park protests that were sparked after the government attempted to illegally demolish a public park in Istanbul, the nations largest city. The shooting was a major contributing factor in the protests' expansion to other cities.
Sarisuluk was unarmed and among several other protesters when Officer Sahbaz took his gun out and fired in the air a 45-degree angle. After the shooting, public officials and government representatives refused to disclose information about the shooting. such as the name of the officer who shot Sarisuluk. They also took an inordinate amount of time to initiate an investigation, which sparked more outrage and protests.
In remarks to the media, the lawyer representing the family of the victim said they weren't holding high hopes for justice to be served. He claimed the government had exhibited a biased attitude during the investigation and the trial. He also complained about the jail sentence, which he referred to as an "an incentive" to kill.
The brother of the victim, Mustafa Sarisulu also commented on the punishment outside the courthouse in Ankara, saying "After seeing the way government handled the investigation, I had no hopes for justice to be brought through this trial." He added that he strongly believes the punishment, which was originally proposed by prosecutors as a life sentence, and subsequently reduced to seven years and nine months, was utterly political. He said it was aimed to also punish the opponents of the government.
