Turkey's top court finds rights violation of protester wounded by police during Gezi

Duvar English

Turkey's Constitutional Court has found rights violation in the case of a protester wounded during Gezi Park protests in 2013, ruling for the case to be reopened.

Duran Eren Şahin was hit on the head with a tear gas canister fired by police on June 2, 2013 in the capital Ankara during the protests, which began in an attempt to save the last green area in Istanbul’s central Taksim Square, before evolving into the country’s largest protests in recent history.

Eight people, including one police officer, died during the protests that lasted for three weeks, while thousands of others were wounded as a result of police brutality.

Şahin's lawyer Doğukan Tonguç Cankurt filed a complaint after the incident, but police told the prosecutor's office that footage from the nearby security cameras were deleted and the police officer who fired the gas canister couldn't be determined.

A decision of non-prosecution was issued three years after the complaint was made, with the prosecutor's office saying that police officers were performing their duties.

The case was then taken to top court, which said that Şahin's right to assemble and demonstrate was violated due to police intervention, while adding that the ban on treatment incompatible with human dignity was also violated when Şahin was hit on the head with a canister.

"The force used against the applicant can't be said to be necessary because public officials can't prove that the applicant was not peaceful," the court said, while also ruling for Şahin to be paid 20,000 Turkish Liras as compensation.