07/11/2024 | Writer: Oğulcan Özgenç
Lawyer Kerem Dikmen evaluated the hearing of the Hande Buse Şeker case at the Court of Appeal on November 6: “The court characterized the murder of Hande Buse Şeker as a simple act of murder”
In the Hande Buse Şeker case, the prosecutor appealed the life sentence given by the Izmir 4th High Criminal Court to the defendant police officer Volkan Hicret. The hearing of the case on appeal was held on November 6. Izmir Bar Association Executive Board members Attorney Ceren Tosun, Attorney Dinçer Dikmen, Attorney Kerem Dikmen from Kaos GL Association and Emir Okul from Young LGBTI+ Association followed the case.
The court rejected the lawyers' demand for aggravated life imprisonment for the defendant Volkan Hicret.
Kaos GL Association Human Rights Program Coordinator Lawyer Kerem Dikmen evaluated the hearing of the Hande Buse Şeker case held at the Regional Court of Appeals on November 6. Dikmen stated that as lawyers, they demanded aggravated life imprisonment instead of life imprisonment and said:
"The reason for our demand was that this was not just any act, but a qualified act of killing. We had appealed the verdict on the grounds that it was an act of intentional killing with a monstrous feeling. As a matter of fact, the prosecutor had also appealed the decision of the Izmir 4th High Criminal Court, which was the court of first instance, on the grounds that “this is an act of qualified killing”, and even a judge had written a dissenting opinion for the same reason. But the court of appeal rejected our request. The court characterized the murder of Hande Buse Şeker as a simple act of murder."
Increased penalty for sexual assault
The court stated that since the weapon used in the criminal act belonged to the state, the sentences imposed according to the Turkish Penal Code should be increased by 1.3 percent. Regarding the court's decision, Dikmen said the following:
"However, some of the participants did not appeal the decision. Since they did not appeal, there will be no change in terms of the executed sentence."
Dikmen added the following:
“We had also made an application for the other client who was the victim of the incident. At that point, an increase was applied regarding the act of sexual assault.”
What happened?
Hande Buse Şeker was a trans woman living in Izmir who made her living as a sex worker. On January 9, 2019, a police officer named Volkan Hicret killed Hande Buse Şeker at Şeker's house in Alsancak with a police gun while he was off duty. Police officer Volkan Hicret murdered, extorted, sexually assaulted and injured Şeker's friend at home.
The first verdict was issued on November 26, 2020. The prosecutor in the case, which circulated between the courts during the trial process, had recently submitted a petition to the Regional Court of Appeals, pointing out that the defendant Volkan Hicret did not leave the scene after killing Hande Buse Şeker and sexually assaulted Şeker and Şeker's friend who was present at the scene. The petition emphasized that the killing incident was “outrageous and disproportionate” and stated that the court should accept that the defendant Volkan Hicret committed the act of killing with monstrous feeling.
In the petition; It was emphasized that the court's ruling on the “intentional killing crime” was against the procedure and the law, and it was stated that a verdict should be made on the crime of “intentional killing with monstrous feeling”.
Click-Hande Buse Şeker case is once again on appeal
Tags: human rights, women
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