Treatment of suspect in police murder draws ire in Turkey
The treatment of a suspect in a police murder case has drawn ire as he was taken to the courthouse in an animal transporter while being dressed in a trash bag. Meanwhile, it came to light that he was not arrested despite his 26 criminal records.
Duvar English
The police’s treatment of Yunus Emre Geçti, a 19-year-old suspect in a police murder case, has drawn ire in Turkey.
Accordingly, the suspect on late Sept. 22 escaped from the police station after being detained for “motorcycle theft” in Istanbul’s Ümraniye district. During the escape, and then scuffle, he reportedly shot police officer Şeyda Yılmaz in the head and killed her.
On Sept. 23, he was taken to the courthouse in an animal transporter while being dressed in a trash bag by the police officers.
This treatment drew ire as some legal experts deemed it “torture.”
However, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya backed the treatment and denied that an investigation was initiated into the incident.
Meanwhile, it came to light that Geçti was not arrested despite his 26 criminal records over several charges like “intentional injury,” “extortion,” “sexual harassment,” ‘looting,” and “damage to property.”
Most recently, Istanbul Anatolia 2nd Criminal Judgeship of Peace imposed judicial control measures for Geçti in July. Accordingly, he had to sing in at a police station twice a week.
The suspect Geçti violated the judicial control measure and did not sign in at a police station during this time. However, the police station did not report this to the prosecutor's office, DW Turkish reported on Sept. 24.
Geçti was previously sentenced to three years and 20 days in prison for plunder in a case pending before the appeals court. Another case against him on the charge of intentional injury is ongoing.
A court arrested Geçti on Sept. 23 over the charge of “intentional killing of a public official while on duty.”
After his detention, his mother Pınar Geçti told the press, “If my child has 26 charges, why didn't the state arrest him? Why did he walk away until yesterday? I begged the state so many times, I went to so many police stations, I told them everything. This child is addicted to drugs, this child sells drugs, this child uses drugs. I said all these things. I told them where my child was.”
In his testimony, Geçti said, “I didn't commit a deliberate crime. I didn't see them as police officers,“ the daily Cumhuriyet reported on Sept. 25.