Seven years after the death of Berkin Elvan, the prosecution has demanded up to nine years in prison for the accused policeman. The boy's family reacted indignantly - also because the judge called the Gezi protests vandalism.
Almost seven years after the death of Berkin Elvan, the prosecution has demanded up to nine years in prison for accused police officer Fatih Dalgali. He is accused of killing by deliberate negligence, the prosecutor said Friday at the 19th main hearing in the trial. Relatives and trial observers reacted with sharp criticism.
Berkin Elvan is the youngest victim of the 2013 Gezi uprising. The boy had been seriously injured by a gas cartridge fired by police on the sidelines of protests in Istanbul's Okmeydani neighborhood and was in a coma for 269 days before his death. He died on March 11, 2014, at the age of 15. The trial did not begin until a good three years later in April 2017, but his killer remains at large.
Lawyer Can Atalay, who represents the Elvan family, reacted indignantly to the accusation of killing by deliberate negligence. The lawyer recalled the transfer of the presiding judge last December to the Court of Cassation shortly before the verdict was handed down, and accused the judge who had been replaced of not being independent and impartial. "The judge appointed to the case calls the Gezi protests 'vandalism' and likes tagged posts on social media saying 'Berkin Elvan is a terrorist’. He shouldn't wait for us to file a recusal request but should resign himself."
Atalay called for punishment for murder. Accused police officer Fatih Dalgali participated in the trial again via video conference from his duty station in Van. His defense attorney filed a motion for more time to prepare the defense, which was approved. The trial will continue on June 18.
Gülsüm Elvan: I have not forgotten
After the trial, a demonstration was held in front of the Çağlayan Courthouse. Speaking here, Berkin's mother Gülsüm Elvan said, "Our children are lying in the ground while their killers are running free unmolested." She then addressed her words to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, asking if the president remembered how he publicly booed Berkin Elvan and the other victims of the Gezi protests, calling them terrorists.
"Neither Ali Ismail Korkmaz, Ethem Sarısülük, Medeni Yıldırım nor the others. And neither the victims of Roboski - I have not forgotten them and will always remind you of them," she added.
