Turkish President sues parents of Gezi victim Berkin Elvan for insulting him

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has sued Berkin Elvan’s parents for “insulting the president”. The AKP leader sees himself humiliated by the criticism of the scandalous actions of the Turkish judiciary in the process of the death of the youngest Gezi victim and called for a lawsuit to be opened through his legal adviser. If Gülsüm and Sami Elvan are convicted, they face several years’ imprisonment. Four years and eight months in prison is the maximum sentence for insulting the president in Turkey. The minimum penalty is one year and two months.

The lawsuit is about a statement made by the couple on 9 December 2020, after the 18th trial hearing against police officer Fatih Dalgalı. On 16 June 2013, he fired a gas cartridge and hit the then 14-year-old boy in the head. After a nine-month coma, Berkin died on 11 March 2014 from a gunshot wound. When he died, he only weighed 16 kilograms. At the hearing in December, it had also become known that the presiding judge had recently been appointed to the Court of Cassation. The responsible public prosecutor did not even appear because he had been infected with the corona virus. The accused policeman attended the trial via a video link from his location in Van.

“Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, you took my child from me”

“Our pain hasn’t stopped for seven years. We know that Berkin will not come back, but we also do not want other families to experience such suffering,” said Sami Elvan at the time after the trial in front of the Çağlayan Palace of Justice in Istanbul. Only the policeman who fired the gas cartridge is accused, but the family also wants to see the commanders in court.

Gülsüm Elvan addressed the Turkish President at the time and said: “Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, you took my child from me, at least give me justice. I want justice.” She was referring to Erdoğan’s statement about the Gezi Park movement a week after the attack on Berkin Elvan. At the time, Erdoğan proudly announced as Prime Minister that he had given the police the order to crack down on “the terrorists”, as he called the demonstrators.

Murderer convicted, punishment not yet final

In the meantime, the trial farce is over for the time being. On 18 June, officer Fatih Dalgalı was sentenced to 16 years and eight months in prison for murder. The prosecutor had only asked for up to nine years in prison for murder through deliberate negligence. As long as the verdict is not final, the policeman remains outside and continues to be on duty. Only a ban on going abroad has been issued against Dalgalı.