Police commissioner S.E. was arrested on Monday in the northern Kurdish province of Şırnak for a treacherous attempt to murder. He is alleged to have deliberately hit lawyer Serkan Karakaş with his car in order to kill him.

The police commissioner said he had been waiting for the 27-year-old lawyer the previous day when he broke down with his car and swerved onto the safe shoulder. Then he drove at him from behind with the intention of killing him, so that he had no possibility to avoid.

At that moment, Karakaş had already gotten out of the car to check the right side of his car. This was also described by people who observed the incident in the center of Şırnak and took the lawyer to a hospital. S.E. had already fled to his precinct by that time. There, they initially detained him without an official order to take him into custody. Only through the action of the Şırnak Bar Association did the prosecutor on duty have the policeman arrested.

In his interrogation, S.E. stated on record that he had caused the collision with full intent. "I was in a state of psychological emergency. I heard voices and then shifted into reverse," the officer explained. Meanwhile, his victim, Serkan Karakaş, is still in the hospital, although an initial operation was successful on Sunday. Since he suffered multiple bone fractures from the impact and one leg was completely shattered below the knee, he will probably have to go under the knife frequently.

Protest in front of the Palace of Justice

A large number of members of civil rights organizations gathered in front of the Palace of Justice in Şırnak on Monday to protest the attempted murder of Serkan Karakaş. "This incident highlights to us in no uncertain terms the danger we all face at the hands of security forces. No one seems to be safe," said Rojhat Dilsiz, president of the local bar association. Also on the scene was Ali Bayram of the Board of Directors of the Federation of Bar Associations of Turkey (TBB), among others. He called for S.E.'s immediate dismissal as a police officer and appropriate punishment. "TBB strongly condemns this attempted murder against our colleague and will closely monitor the behavior of the judicial authorities in the investigation of S.E.," Bayram said. Prompt recovery wishes were conveyed for Serkan Karakaş.

Young lawyer for human rights

Although Serkan Karakaş is still a young lawyer at the age of 27, he is already well-known in Şırnak for his fight to enforce human and civil rights. Within the bar association, he is responsible for the chamber's own office for lawyers' rights, and his clients mostly include victims of arbitrary state action. Among his cases is the file of Abdulgaffar Dayan. The 23-year-old Kurd was hit by an armored vehicle of the Turkish police in the Cizre district at the end of January and dragged several meters. After two days in the hospital, he succumbed to his severe injuries on January 26.