New details in NCO-imam case... Sexual assault, robbery, and assault

The reasoned verdict has been released in the case in which Gendarmerie NCO Gül Kılıç, Specialist Sergeant Orhan Ersoy, Specialist Corporal Ömer Keleşoğlu, and Taner Şirp — all serving in Van's Gevaş district — were sentenced to 6.5 years in prison on charges of aggravated robbery for beating and robbing İkram Sorğuç, an imam serving in Bitlis.

In its reasoned ruling, Van 1st Heavy Criminal Court noted that NCO Gül Kılıç had met the imam through a social media account she had opened under the name Esra, and that after agreeing to meet, they sat in a vehicle for a while before continuing on the road.

The ruling stated that while they were stopped at the roadside to smoke, two of the defendants suddenly opened the door of the vehicle the imam was driving and dragged him out.

THEY BEAT HIM SAYING "WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY WIFE"

One of the defendants reportedly told the imam, "What are you doing here with my wife? She took my money — are you spending it with her here?" and struck the imam on the back of the neck and shoulder with the butt of a pistol.

The ruling stated that the defendants first demanded 100,000 lira from the beaten imam, threatening to kill him if he did not pay.

After pressing a gun to his head, they reportedly ordered him to access his bank accounts from his mobile phone and transferred money from those accounts to their own.

The reasoned ruling noted that after the robbery, the defendants threatened the imam not to tell anyone about the incident. It also stated that during this time, Gül Kılıç, who was inside the vehicle, wiped the surfaces she had touched with a wet wipe, and that after throwing the imam's car keys into the lake, they all fled together.

The ruling highlighted that the imam identified each of the defendants individually, and that a biological examination of a coffee cup found in the vehicle and consumed by Gül Kılıç was found to be consistent with her DNA profile.

THEY ROBBED ME UNDER THE GUISE OF A FAMILY DISPUTE

The reasoned ruling also included the testimony of imam İkram Sorğuç.

Sorğuç stated: "After meeting with Gül, while we were driving around, she told me to pull over to the side of the road. I did. At that point, two people opened the car door and beat me. They were all armed. They accessed my accounts and took my money. Then they said, 'You're an imam — if you report us, we'll disgrace you.' The defendants are falsely claiming I was drinking alcohol to clear their own names. They staged it as a family dispute, beat me, and robbed me. I tried to resolve the situation on the spot, but out of fear of being killed, I didn't show any reaction. They forced their way into my mobile banking accounts at gunpoint. I even noticed they had applied for a credit loan and requested a credit limit increase. They pressed a gun to my head and told me to strip completely naked. When I said 'I won't undress even if you kill me,' they punched me in the jaw. While Gül Kılıç was in prison, she sent a letter to my home and implicitly threatened me. She said, 'I'm giving you one last chance. Go and tell them everything, say I had nothing to do with the money.' I do not accept their requests for remorse — I am filing a complaint against all of them."

HE DRANK BEER AND ATTACKED ME

NCO Gül Kılıç, in her statement, said she and the imam had been following each other on Instagram for 2 years and that she had recently divorced her husband. She stated: "İkram picked me up in his car and we started driving around. After a while, he suggested we get some alcohol. I was surprised at first because he was an imam. I told him I wouldn't drink alcohol and that I wanted coffee. He stopped at a petrol station and bought one coffee. When I asked why he hadn't bought coffee for himself, he showed me two full and one empty beer bottles and said, 'I have my own drink,' and started drinking the beer. I asked how he could drink beer being an imam, and he said, 'This is how we drink.' Seeing the alcohol made me uneasy. He then told me he had romantic feelings for me. I asked him to stop at another petrol station. At that point, he locked me in the car. He said he had a weapon on him. I called Orhan Ersoy and told him the person I was with was not trustworthy. Then we went to a spot with a lake view. He said, 'Let's move to the back.' His intentions were bad. When I refused, he grabbed my arm and pulled me to the back of the car. I sent my live location to Orhan and Taner. The imam then said to me, 'My greatest fantasy is to put a gun to the head of a military woman with a Turkish flag beside her and rape her.' He sat me in the back seat and unbuttoned my shirt. There are marks from his moustache on my neck, nail marks on my back, bruises on my hip, and marks in several places on my abdomen. He completely removed the shirt I was wearing. He only had a vest on. While he was trying to take that off too, I was trying to get dressed. He tried to have sex with me but could not. At that point, when Orhan and Ömer opened the door, I threw myself outside. On the night of the incident, the imam sent me a message on Telegram saying, 'May God punish me. How could something like this happen to me. The alcohol had an effect. I will kiss and smell my children. And then I will shoot myself in the head. Let no one hear about this — I will shoot you.' I am filing a complaint against imam İkram Sorğuç for sexually assaulting me and threatening me."

SENTENCES REDUCED FROM 13 YEARS TO 6 YEARS BECAUSE THEY COMPENSATED THE VICTIM

The reasoned ruling stated that NCO Gül Kılıç, a mother of one child who had recently divorced her husband, and imam İkram Sorğuç had met on Instagram, that a closeness developed between them, and that while the imam was driving the NCO in his vehicle toward the Erciş district, Gül Kılıç sent her location to the other 3 defendants.

It was stated that Specialist Sergeant Orhan Ersoy, Specialist Corporal Ömer Keleşoğlu, and Taner Şirp stopped the vehicle, beat the imam, and then transferred a total of 55,530 TL from his account in two installments to Taner Şirp's account, after which they all fled the scene together, and that this was established by camera and PTS records.

The ruling emphasized that a reduction in the defendants' sentences was required because the material damage suffered by the imam had been compensated. It also noted that Article 62, which governs good conduct reductions, was not applied, as the defendants' tendency to commit crimes during the trial, the absence of observed remorse, and the failure to form a positive conviction in court that they would not reoffend in the future were all taken into account.

Taking into consideration that Gül Kılıç sent her location to the other 3 defendants and summoned them to the scene, and that all four left the scene together after the robbery, the court recorded that all four had acted in concert in thought and deed and were joint perpetrators.

The reasoned ruling stated that the defendants were sentenced to 13 years in prison for the offence of "armed robbery by multiple persons at night."

It was explained that, since the defendants had compensated imam İkram Sorğuç for the money that was robbed during the trial proceedings, the court unanimously decided to reduce their sentences to 6 years and 6 months each, and to impose a judicial supervision order prohibiting them from leaving the country until the verdict becomes final.

News Source: 12punto