Berkin Elvan's family appears in court on charges of insulting the president

Gülsüm Elvan and Sami Elvan, the parents of 15-year-old Berkin Elvan, who was killed after being struck in the head by a gas canister fired by police in Istanbul's Okmeydanı during the Gezi Park protests, have appeared in court. 

According to a report by Gazete Duvar, Gülsüm and Sami Elvan were present at the hearing held at the Istanbul 43rd Criminal Court of First Instance. It was noted that both the judge and the prosecutor of the court had changed. The prosecutor requested that the file be submitted to them for the final opinion on the merits.

The court decided to grant a final extension for the prosecutor to prepare their opinion. The next hearing was adjourned to February 14 at 10:40 AM.

WHAT HAD HAPPENED?

A lawsuit had been filed against Berkin Elvan's parents on charges of 'insulting the president' due to statements they made following hearings in the case regarding their child's killing.

In the indictment written by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on September 6, 2021, statements made by Sami Elvan on September 23, 2020, and by Gülsüm and Sami Elvan on January 29, 2021, after hearings at the Çağlayan Courthouse, were cited as grounds for insulting the president.

In his speech on September 23, 2020, Sami Elvan recalled the words of the then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and said the following:

“Our true murderer is the prime minister of that period, the person who is the president in this period. We know this from him because he said, ‘I gave the order, my police wrote an epic.’ I shouted in the courtroom, and I am saying it here again. I have no fear. It has been more or less seven and a half years; for seven and a half years, I have been a living dead, and I will continue to make these outcries so that people like me do not become living dead. If they want, they can hang me here; I don't even care, but no one can deny this truth: The murderer of my child is the person who was the prime minister at the time and is now the president; that is all I have to say.”

In her speech on January 29, 2021, Gülsüm Elvan recalled Erdoğan having her booed at a rally in 2014:

"Yes, Yasin was also small, we did things for him too. But Yasin's murderer, the person who shot him, received seven aggravated life sentences, and three people with him received life sentences. While the murderers of our children are still not being tried, well, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, do you remember my child when you speak? Do you remember Ethem Sarısülük? Do you remember Ali İsmail? Do you remember Ahmet Atakan, whose investigation has still not been opened? Do you remember Medeni? Do you remember Mehmet, or do you remember Hasan Ferit? You took the eyes of dozens of people, do you remember? Do you remember these, how you had me booed in the squares? I am saying it again, you are so pathetic that you even had a mother booed in the squares. I do not forget, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan… Remember these first, then speak. But every time I come out, I will remind him of this. When he says ‘These are child killers,’ I remind him of my child. My child was also a child. He was only 14 years old, he was 14 when you shot him. While my child couldn't even take a bath by himself, I was the one bathing him. He became a terrorist. Is there anyone more of a terrorist than you? I want my child, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, give me back my child just as you took him from me by giving orders, I want my child."

Sami Elvan's speech from the same day was also included in the indictment:

“The person who gave the order for my child's death is the then-prime minister of the Republic of Turkey, but he is not my president or prime minister or anything like that right now; in my eyes, he is a murderer. I am speaking clearly and plainly, underlining it with thick lines. The murderer of my child is Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He went out on television and shouted it himself. He said it while shouting, while crying out. He said, ‘I gave the order.’ The police officer who shot my child is also a hitman. But I will see you being tried here. Even if I don't see it, they will see it; I will not let you go. Both my hands will be on your collar, don't forget this. I hope you suffer the pain you have caused me for seven years in a much worse way than I do.”

The prosecutor demanded a sentence, claiming that the term “terrorist” in the sentence “Is there anyone more of a terrorist than you?” and the sentences “I am speaking clearly and plainly, underlining it with thick lines, the murderer of my child is Recep Tayyip Erdoğan” were ‘statements containing insults.’

News Source: 12punto