She kicked a cat named 'Şirine' and threw it from the fourth floor: 3-year prison sentence requested

The hearing at the Küçükçekmece 23rd Criminal Court of First Instance was attended by the cat's owner, complainant Fatma Aydın, as well as the lawyers for both parties and lawyers from the Istanbul Bar Association's Animal Rights Center.

Following the continued complaints against the defendant by complainant Fatma Aydın and her lawyers, the public prosecutor presented their opinion on the merits.

In the opinion, it was stated that on the day of the incident, the defendant saw the cat named "Şirine," belonging to Aydın, coming out of the home of the witness in the adjacent apartment, İlayda Argun, and kicked the cat, alleging that it had damaged her flower pots and belongings.

The opinion stated that Pilici, whom witness Argun tried to stop, grabbed the cat and threw it out of the window from the 4th floor, and it was assessed that the defendant had harmed the cat by treating it in a cruel and merciless manner.

The opinion requested that the defendant be sentenced to between 6 months and 3 years in prison for the crime of "torturing a domestic or pet animal or treating it in a cruel and merciless manner."

While defense lawyer Lamia Hız requested time to prepare a defense against the opinion on the merits, the intervening party Aydın and her lawyers demanded that the defendant be sentenced at the upper limit.

Lawyer Bahtiyar Güner from the intervening Istanbul Bar Association Animal Rights Center stated, "The defendant works as an academic at an educational institution and educates young people. She should be sentenced at the upper limit for the purpose of rehabilitation."

The hearing was adjourned to July 9 after the defendant's lawyer's request for time was accepted.

FROM THE INDICTMENT

The indictment prepared by the Küçükçekmece Chief Public Prosecutor's Office stated that an investigation was launched after complainant Fatma Aydın filed a complaint alleging that her cat named "Şirine" was kicked by defendant Elanur Pilici on August 15, 2023, and thrown from the fourth-floor window.

In the indictment, defendant Pilici, whose statement was included, argued that she was angry at the cat but did not kick it or throw it out of the window, while witness İlayda Argun explained that Fatma Aydın had come to the house where she was a guest on the day of the incident with her cat Şirine, and that the cat stayed with them after Aydın left.

Stating that while the cat was with them, it went from the balcony to the defendant's balcony and knocked over the flower pots, Argun testified, "In the morning, we learned that the cat had knocked over the pots after the defendant knocked on our door and shouted at us. While we were talking, the cat went toward Aydın's apartment, which is its own home. When the defendant noticed the cat, she started kicking it on the ground. I ran and tried to stop her, and the cat hid in the gap in the meantime. The defendant got away from me, caught the cat she was chasing, and threw it from the 4th floor."

Witness Argun stated that they took the cat to the veterinarian after the incident and that it had internal bleeding as a result of the fall from a height.

The indictment, which noted that the defendant committed the crimes charged against her based on witness testimony and an expert report, requested that Pilici be sentenced to between 6 months and 3 years in prison for the crime of "torturing a domestic or pet animal or treating it in a cruel and merciless manner."

In the security camera footage for which an expert report was prepared regarding the moments of the incident, it was seen that the defendant rang the doorbell of an apartment and kicked the cat that came out from inside when the door was opened.