Adem Altýndag and B.C. were caught in the act of burglary in Urfa on 24 December 2010. While Altýndag was tried at Sanlýurfa 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance, the file of B.C. was sent to 1st Juvenile Court for being underage. 


Both trials ended with an interesting decisions. The 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance sentenced Altýndag to 1 year 1 month and 10 months in prison and decided for the adjournment of the sentence as it was under under two years. The court also ruled the release of the suspect.

As to B.C. who was tried for the same accusation, the 1st Juvenile Court sentenced the suspect to 3 years 1 month and 10 days in prison and ruled the the suspect being detained.

In accordance with international conventions signed by Turkey and the 31st article of Turkish Penal Code, the children committing crimes must be given penalties three times less than adult suspects. The threefold sentence of the juvenile court has been recorded as “an unexplainable case”.

Translation: Berna Ozgencil