PodcastTurkish governor gets 2 years in jail after hitting and killing child by car
A former Turkish governor has been sentenced to 2 years in prison after hitting and killing a 13-year-old child by car in the southeastern Diyarbakır province. The court did not defer the sentence, meaning the former governor will serve time in prison.
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A Turkish court has sentenced a former local district governor to 2 years in prison for hitting a 13-year-old child in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır’s Bismil district leading to his death.
Server Sinanoğlu, the former governor of Batman's Gercüş district, on July 15, 2022, hit the 13-year-old child Muhammet Çelik and injured another at a junction, according to reporting by the daily Sözcü. Sinanoğlu was found to be intoxicated with alcohol and empty bottles of beer were found in his car.
An expert’s report prepared after the incident said that Sinanoğlu was “partially guilty” for not slowing down at the junction and using his car while intoxicated. The report said that the speed limit at the relevant injunction was 50 km per hour whereas the former governor was driving at a speed of 103 km per hour.
The same report however found the child the “primary negligent party” as he had not paid attention to warning signs at the junction.
The court found Sinanoğlu guilty of “killing by gross carelessness,” handing down a prison sentence of 2 years and 8 months. Due to the deceased child’s “partial negligence” in the case, the court reduced the former governor's sentence to 2 years, 2 months, and 20 days, without deferring the jail term.
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