Football player Burak Yılmaz was summoned as a witness in the trial where Arda Turan was charged with “sexual harassment”.

Istanbul Regional Courthouse 25th Penal Office, Arda Turan about “sexual abuse“The reversal decision regarding the acquittal of the crime reached the Istanbul 41st Criminal Court of First Instance.

The local court decided that the case should be heard according to the normal procedure and the first hearing be held on 7 April.

The court also said that the player who was not heard in the first trial and who was also mentioned in the appeal decision Burak Yilmaz and ordered Onur Ürkmez to be summoned as a witness.

BACKGROUND OF THE CASE

In the indictment prepared by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, the complainant-defendant Arda Turan was accused of “sexual harassment, deliberate injury to cause bones to break, shooting with a gun in a way that could cause fear, anxiety or panic, and carrying or keeping a weapon without a license” for 3 years, 3 months to 12 years. Up to 6 months, complainant-defendant Berkay Sahinon the other hand, was asked to be sentenced to 3 months to 2 years in prison for “insult”.

The Istanbul 41st Criminal Court of First Instance decided on September 11, 2019, and ruled that there was no room for punishment for this crime, since the offense of insult of defendant Berkay Şahin against Arda Turan was committed in response to the crime of deliberate injury.

2 YEARS AND 8 MONTHS PENALTY

Deciding that the defendant Arda Turan was acquitted of “sexual harassment”, the court decided that the defendant was acquitted for 10 months for “carrying a gun without a license”, 10 months for “shooting with a gun in a way that causes fear, anxiety or panic” and 1 year and 15 days for “deliberate wounding”. He was sentenced to 2 years 8 months and 15 days in total.

Considering that the defendant Turan had not been convicted of an intentional crime before, the court also decided to delay the announcement of the verdict of the individual sentences imposed. The Istanbul Regional Court of Justice 25th Criminal Division overturned the local court’s acquittal verdict on Turan.

In the decision, it was stated that football player Burak Yılmaz and Onur Ürkmez, who were with the defendants on the day of the incident and were heard during the investigation phase, were not taken during the trial and the decision was made with an incomplete investigation.

In the decision, which was reminded that the amount of penalty stipulated in the law for the “sexual harassment” crime against Arda Turan was 3 months to 2 years imprisonment and judicial fines, it was stated that the file should be quashed in order to be re-evaluated in terms of “simple trial procedure” and the appeal application was deemed appropriate.

Source: Anadolu Agency / Başak Akbulut Author