Prosecutor deems 2019 attack against main opposition leader 'simply injury'

In his final sentencing opinion, a prosecutor has referred to the 2019 attack against main opposition CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as having caused "simple injury," seeking up to four years in jail for the assailant.

Friday March 11 2022 01:39 pm

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A prosecutor has demanded that a man who punched main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in 2019 be sentenced up to three years and 10 months in prison on charges of "insulting" and "causing simple injury."

In the case where 67 people are tried for a mob attack against Kılıçdaroğlu, the prosecutor has demanded in his final sentencing opinion (“esasa ilişkin mütalaa”) that Osman Sarıgün be handed down a jail sentence of up to three years and 10 months.

The attack occurred in the capital city of Ankara’s Çubuk district on April 21, 2019, where Kılıçdaroğlu was attacked by a group at the funeral of a soldier.

The group attempted to attack Kılıçdaroğlu during the funeral and threw rocks at him. He then took refuge in a house in the area and had to wait indoors for hours before being evacuated.

Objecting to the opinion of the prosecutor, CHP lawmaker Murat Emir said at the hearing of a Çubuk court, “In front of the eyes of the world, our leader was attacked and wanted to be killed. Therefore, the definition of crime should have been a full attempt at deliberate murder, instead of simple insult, simple attempt to injure.”

Emir said they have been following this lawsuit for three years, and “Unfortunately, we have witnessed once again today that it is not possible to expect justice from this court. This court acts with instructions and does nothing to shed light on the incident.”

“While the shoutings of 'Burn them, kill them, fire them, do not let them go' are heard in the footage, the prosecutor only heard simple insults. The main elements of attempted murder and incitement to commit a crime, which were detected in all those images, were overlooked or not taken into account,” Emir stated.

Kılıçdaroğlu's lawyer, Celal Çelik, said that the children's future should be protected, and that his client gave up his complaint about 10 defendants who were younger than 18 as of the date of the incident.

The prosecutor demanded for other defendants to be sentenced to up to 26.5 years on charges of "deliberately injuring the person due to his public duty” and "depriving one’s liberty by using force," among others.

The hearing was adjourned to May 31.