Up to 3 years in prison sought for delaying tram by 2 minutes...

Müyesser YILDIZ 12punto.com.tr

A prison sentence of 1 to 3 years has been requested for police officer Onur Şener, who shared his thoughts and feelings regarding the PKK resolution process with citizens waiting at a tram stop in Eskişehir on December 5, on the grounds that he delayed the movement of the tram by 2 minutes.

Following the incident, Onur Şener, who was suspended and faced a request for dismissal from civil service by Police Chief Inspectors on charges of "criticizing state policy" and "insulting the President," was also the subject of a criminal complaint filed with the Eskişehir Chief Public Prosecutor's Office for "insulting the President" and for causing "tram services to be held up for approximately 2 extra minutes."

Summoned to testify following the criminal complaints against him, Onur Şener provided his defense today only regarding the charge of "delaying tram services," as the investigations for the two charges are being conducted separately.

Police officer Onur Şener, whose testimony was taken in accordance with Article 223 of the Turkish Penal Code, titled "Obstruction, hijacking, or detention of means of transport," which states, "A person who, through unlawful conduct, prevents a land transport vehicle from moving or stops such a vehicle while it is in motion, shall be sentenced to imprisonment from 1 to 3 years," said the following in his defense:

"On December 5, I was on duty at the Regional Traffic Branch Directorate. On this date, around 17:50, I stopped alone on İki Eylül Street with the patrol vehicle I was assigned to. I got out of the patrol vehicle. The vehicle was on the side of the road. I expressed some of my criticisms regarding the resolution process to citizens waiting on the tram line. When I stepped onto the tram line, there was no tram. The tram arrived later, but I did not see that the tram had arrived and had to stop. The tram honked at me, but I did not hear that either. My intention was not to intentionally obstruct the movement of the tram. I do not accept the charge brought against me."

REPORT FILED AT THE REQUEST OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT

His lawyer, İlayda Güngör Amasyalı, also pointed out that the tram had not yet arrived while Onur Şener was chatting with citizens, noting that the presence of the tram was only visible in footage later taken by a citizen, and highlighted the following details:

"For the crime of obstructing means of transport to occur, there must be force, threat, or unlawful conduct. There is no such behavior in the client's actions. Trams at the stop in question already wait for about 5-10 minutes to pick up passengers. There is no causal link between the client's action and the stopping of the trams. Furthermore, no report was filed by ESTRAM (Eskişehir Tram) regarding the incident in question on the day it occurred, nor was the situation reported. A report was drawn up later in this manner at the request of the police department. We believe that the report is also not in accordance with the law."

Onur Şener's other lawyer emphasized that although the report sent by the General Directorate of Security mentioned two separate actions and two separate crimes, it was a single action, stating, "The client shared his views with the citizens present there. The action should be investigated in a single file. Furthermore, the trams were not stopped by the client during the incident; his back was turned to the tram. He was also unaware that the tram had arrived. The tram stopped on its own. Therefore, not only are the elements of the alleged crime not present, but the client also had no intention of stopping the tram. He did not make any move against the tram."

His lawyers requested that a decision of non-prosecution be issued for Onur Şener regarding this charge.

News Source: Müyesser Yıldız