Zeki Kayar was arrested on 23 November 1993 and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was given an additional prison sentence of 1 year and 6 months on top of his previous conviction. This sentence was approved in 2018 and affected Kayar's release process.

Kayar’s release date was postponed from 23 November 2023 to 5 January 2025, after the sentence was approved. However, after he was transferred to Adana-Kürkçüler F Type Closed Prison, his release date was changed to 2031.

Kayar’s lawyers applied to the Adana 1st High Criminal Court upon the new release date, but have not yet received a response. Kayar said that he would apply to the Constitutional Court if the situation is not corrected and requested support from civil society and human rights organizations.