Cyprus-Forum.com

[repulsewarrior]

...today, at Standing Rock; a new Gezi?:

Chemicals used in the water cannon, plastic bullets, aerial marking of protesters (by chemical spray), no communications possible from site, it grows bigger despite the ultimatums.

[Tim Drayton]

Shoots him point blank dead in cold blood, then runs away like a pussy.

The trial of the police officer who shot Ethem Sarısülük dead at the height of the Gezi protests has ended. He was fined 10,100 Turkish lira.

[Lordo]

life is so cheap in terggy. but it was always that way for decades long before akp. it is just the opressor that has change the opressed are still the same people.

[Tim Drayton]

That is a fair point and I can't disagree with that. In fact, the opressor may even have changed again. A number of serious analysts whose views I take seriously (most notably journalist Ahmet Şık - who was remanded in custody for just over a year from 3 March 2011 to 12 March 2012 on 'terrorism' charges, his sole offence being to write a book describing in detail how the Fethullah Gülen sect had over a number of decades infiltrated key parts of the state, a crime at the time because the Gulenists were then key allies of the AKP, although the latter now call them FETÖ and denounce them terrorists - so these are pretty serious credentials) believe that more groups than just the Gulenists were initially involved in the 15 July coup attempt and behind the scenes negotiations went on with Erdoğan and the other groups got what they wanted and pulled out, leaving the Gulenists to carry the can. It could be the case that these people have now taken power and are going to let Erdoğan go ahead with his plans for an executive presidency which is basically just a vehicle for propelling him into dictatorship, realising that the 40-50% of the population that idolise him will continue to do so come what may, but will now rule through him as a puppet. But, if this theory is true, who are they?

[Tim Drayton]

There's a brief report in English on that story here:

http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/engl ... free..html

[Londonrake]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38369962

Russian Ambassador shot in Istanbul.

[Tim Drayton]

Well, what do you know? The prosecution is going to start of the policeman suspected of killing Berkin Elvan, the fourteen year old kid who was hit on the head by a tear gas cartridge when he just nipped out to buy some bread while protests connected with the Gezi Park demonstrations were going on in the area where he lived. The prosecution is calling for life imprisonment.

http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/engl ... epted.html

I would have thought that the police officer who killed Ethem Sarısülük committed a far more culpable act in firing a live shot into a crowd of protesters, while Berkin Elvan's death could arguably be said to have been an accident, at least if you accept the legitimacy of tear gassing people on peaceful protests.

[Lordo]

Well, what do you know? The prosecution is going to start of the policeman suspected of killing Berkin Elvan, the fourteen year old kid who was hit on the head by a tear gas cartridge when he just nipped out to buy some bread while protests connected with the Gezi Park demonstrations were going on in the area where he lived. The prosecution is calling for life imprisonment.

http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/engl ... epted.html

I would have thought that the police officer who killed Ethem Sarısülük committed a far more culpable act in firing a live shot into a crowd of protesters, while Berkin Elvan's death could arguably be said to have been an accident, at least if you accept the legitimacy of tear gassing people on peaceful protests.

he will probaply get 5000 tl fine instead or even less?

[Tim Drayton]

In the latter event, given the statistical liklihood that firing tear gas at short range into crowds of protestors would produce such results (and it did lead to more than one death and multiple maimings in the course of the Gezi protests - which were largely disciplined and peaceful as far as the protesters went), the blame surely lies with those who decided to meet these protests with brutal force and whose decision lead to police officers being ordered to launch gas cartrdges at crowds from a short range (which the instruction manuals for such equipment advise against doing), rather than the individual officers who happened to fire those fatal cartridges. On the other hand, police officer Şahbaz's live shot fired into the crowd that killed Ethem Sarısülük was a wilful act on his own initiative that was clearly liable to cause injury or death.

[repulsewarrior]

update...

A local court in İzmir has handed down a postponed monetary fine for an incident in which several students were beaten by two riot police officers, one of whom was photographed pulling a girl’s hair, during the Gezi protests in 2013.

Judge Ümit Özmen initially sentenced the two officers to 360 days in jail, but reduced the jail term to 74 days each. The judge then converted the sentences to a monetary fine of 1,480 Turkish Liras each before postponing the fine, meaning they will have to pay the fine if they commit a similar crime in the next five years.

The incident took place on June 2, 2013, when several protesters marched at a rally in İzmir’s Alsancak Gündoğdu Square as part of the Gezi protests. Several students sitting nearby were beaten by the police officers, who were temporarily suspended after the incident, during which one of them was photographed by journalists pulling the hair of a girl among the students.

A public prosecutor had demanded up to six years in jail for the police officers.

The Gezi protests began in late May 2013 as an effort to stop bulldozers from razing central Istanbul’s Gezi Park, one of the few green spaces left in the city’s Taksim neighborhood, to build a shopping mall. Unrest quickly spread across Turkey, developing into a revolt against what protesters said was the increasing authoritarianism of the ruling party.

Eight protesters and one police officer were killed during the unrest.

Recently, a local court in Istanbul sentenced 244 participants in the 2013 Gezi protests to jail time for a range of crimes, including “polluting a mosque.”

On Oct. 23, 2015, the 55th Criminal Court of First Instance in Istanbul sentenced 244 of 255 defendants to up to one year and two months’ imprisonment. Only four of the defendants were acquitted, while charges against four suspects were separated from the case file.

February/05/2016

Police officers get postponed fines for Gezi protest beatings
İZMİR – Doğan News Agency