The police, killed a young Kurdish man, Kemal Korkut, is free

  • 18/01/2023
The police, killed a young Kurdish man, Kemal Korkut, is free

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Kemal Kurkut, a university student was killed in Newroz 2017 in Diyarbakir. In the murder case of Kurkut, the policeman who was accused of “deliberate murder” was acquitted.

The lawyer of the Kurkut family, Serdar Celebi, evaluated the court’s decision to Botan Times.

“There were pictures of the incident, but the court said 5 months ago, there is no evidence”

Celebi says, “There were reports of inspectors, there were videos, photos of the incident, and despite this, 5 months ago, the court said: There is no evidence. After that, we appealed to the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal also said, “Yes, there is evidence, nevertheless, police who killed the Bilal Korkut went unpunished.”

According to Celebi, after the verdict, the court will open the way for similar incidents.

“The court says that the use of weapons by the police is justified”

In its decision, the court says yes, the police used a weapon, but it is a proper position for use.

Lawyer Serdar Celebi

I have been a lawyer for 25 years and I have yet to see a policeman get a penalty in such cases. Every case is dismissed or the case is closed.”

Lawyer Serdar Celebi

Journalist Abdurrahman Gok, who captured the moment of Kemal Kurkut’s murder, was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison for allegedly “propagandizing the organization”.

The Court of Appeal upheld the sentence imposed on Gok.

Read: https://botantimes.com/taking-a-photo-changed-my-life-badly/

What happened?

23-year-old Kemal Korkut was killed by the police on the 21st of March 2017 at the Newroz celebration in Diyarbakır.

He was a student of the Music Department of the Faculty of Arts of Inonu University.

Diyarbakır’s governor stated that Kurkut had a knife in his hand and “there was a suspicion of suicide” and that they had started an investigation into the incident.

But Gok’s pictures are the opposite of these words.

The Newroz Festival is one of the most important festivals for Kurdish. They celebrate the coming of spring every year on the 21st of March.

Translated by Yonca Sarsilmaz

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