Prosecutor announces opinion in Atlas Çağlayan murder case

The public prosecutor announced their opinion on the merits during the first hearing of the trial regarding the death of 17-year-old Atlas Çağlayan, who was stabbed to death in Istanbul's Güngören district. It was requested that the defendant be sentenced to 21 years, 7 months, and 15 days in prison and that their detention continue.

The first hearing of the trial concerning the death of 17-year-old Atlas Çağlayan, who lost his life after being stabbed in a fight in Güngören, was held. The hearing, conducted by the Bakırköy 2nd Juvenile High Criminal Court in the courthouse conference hall, was closed to the press and the public. The defendant E.Ç. (14), the complainant family of the deceased Çağlayan, four victims, and the lawyers for the parties were present at the hearing.

Request for 21 years, 7 months, and 15 days in prison

At the first hearing, the public prosecutor announced their opinion on the merits. The prosecution requested that the suspect E.Ç. be sentenced to a total of 21 years, 7 months, and 15 days in prison for the crimes of 'murder of a child' against Atlas Çağlayan, 'armed threat' against victims D.Ç., R.E.O., T.U.A., and Y.O.O., and 'violation of Law No. 6136', and that their detention continue.

Hearing adjourned

The hearing was adjourned after the opinion was announced. Following the break, the court ruled to grant time for the parties to prepare their defense and statements regarding the announced opinion, ordered the continued detention of the defendant E.Ç., and adjourned the hearing to September 8. The court is expected to announce its verdict at the next session.

"They acted as if they had no hand in the murder of Atlas"

Speaking in front of the courthouse after the hearing, his mother Gülhan Ünlü said, "It was the first hearing. All our requests were rejected. Our only approved request was for the killer's bone age to be checked and his birth certificate to be examined. The other four killers walked out of here looking us in the eye and waving their hands. Nothing we have talked about, nothing we have struggled for over the last 5 months, nothing we have explained has been heard. I asked for the camera footage to be shown live on the screen at the next hearing. This request of mine was also rejected. Apart from that, one of them was already claimed to be ill. One of them is already 12 years old. Even A.H. himself was very surprised that his fingerprints did not appear. Let's just say they all sold each other out inside. They acted as if E.Ç. was the only culprit. They acted as if they were supporting us. They acted as if they had no hand in the murder of Atlas. There are many missing pieces in the file. There is material in the file about them talking among themselves, about usage. A separate case has been opened for this, outside of our case," she said.

"We filed a criminal complaint against the family for causing death by negligence"

The family's lawyer, Mehtap Yılmaz, stated in her explanation, "The defendant put forward claims that Atlas and his friends provoked him, that he looked at them, and that they swore at him. It is clear how inconsistent these defenses are with the truth. For this reason, the prosecution has already requested a conviction. However, we, of course, think this is not enough. We had our own requests. As you know, these incidents have been increasing in other cases as well. We also had a criminal complaint against the family. Because there were allegations that this knife belonged to the family, and there were witness statements. There were allegations against the father. Because the father is currently in prison for violating Law No. 6136. When we look at the photos of S.S.Ç., the phone inside the file was seized. We see photos and videos taken with this weapon, with the knife, in the photos and videos on the phones. We have filed a criminal complaint against the family for the crime of causing death by intentional negligence," she said.