Police officer sentenced to four year in prison for refugee's death
Police officer sentenced to four year in prison for refugee's death
Nigerian refugee Festus Okey was killed in 2007 by a bullet shot by police officer Cengiz Yýldýz. Okey was arrested as he was not carrying identification but what should have been a "check" arrest turned out to be fatal for the Nigerian refugee.
The trial for the killing ended yesterday and police officer Cengiz Yýldýz was sentenced to four years and two months imprisonment for “involuntary manslaughter”.
Indeed the police officer defended his action by blaming the "lack of closets for storing guns". The defense line was that Cengiz Yýldýz always kept the gun in his pocket but a sudden move between him and the Nigerian refugee might have caused the shooting.
The trial was attended by nongovernmental organizations, like Migration Solidarity Network (GDA), Amnesty International and the Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD).
“The suspect would be punished with almost 12 years imprisonment if the lawyers could have proved that the case was voluntary manslaughter,” said Taylan Tanay, the ÇHD Istanbul branch head, adding that the T-shirt Okey was wearing at time of the incident was never recovered.
The trial for the killing ended yesterday and police officer Cengiz Yýldýz was sentenced to four years and two months imprisonment for “involuntary manslaughter”.
Indeed the police officer defended his action by blaming the "lack of closets for storing guns". The defense line was that Cengiz Yýldýz always kept the gun in his pocket but a sudden move between him and the Nigerian refugee might have caused the shooting.
The trial was attended by nongovernmental organizations, like Migration Solidarity Network (GDA), Amnesty International and the Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD).
“The suspect would be punished with almost 12 years imprisonment if the lawyers could have proved that the case was voluntary manslaughter,” said Taylan Tanay, the ÇHD Istanbul branch head, adding that the T-shirt Okey was wearing at time of the incident was never recovered.
