The “third sentencing hearing” of the Hande Buse Şeker case was held

31/07/2024 | Writer: Oğulcan Özgenç

After the Regional Court of Justice reversed the file in the Hande Buse Şeker case, the “third sentencing hearing” of the case was held today. The prosecutor requested aggravated life imprisonment for Volkan Hicret. The court sentenced him ‘once again’ to life imprisonment with a majority vote.

Hande Buse Şeker, a sex worker trans woman living in İzmir was murdered on January 19, 2019, at her home. Police officer Volkan Hicret, who killed Hande Buse Şeker with his service weapon at her home while he was off duty, and robbed her and sexually assaulted her after the murder, also injured her friend who was at home. A lawsuit was filed at İzmir 4th Heavy Penal Court against the killer police Volkan Hicret. The hearings were carried over self-enclosed for a while. The decision was removed thanks to the objections of the lawyers and reactions.

The first decision was announced at the eighth hearing in 2020, November, 26. Within the scope of the verdict, Volkan Hicret was handed life sentence for murder in first degree and received 21 years imprisonment for qualified sexual assault, 5 years and 6 months for qualified looting thrice, 9 months for injury twice and 2 years for insulting the memory of a person.

The first conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal and the lawsuit was reopened. At the hearing held on December 5th, the Izmir 4th Heavy Penal Court did not hold a retrial on the offence of intentional killing despite the objection of the lawyers. The police officer Volkan Hicret, was handed life sentence for continued sexual assault after the murder and attempted to kill the other trans woman in the house, on charges of, attempted intentional killing, qualified sexual assault and robbery. At that time, the lawyers of the case stated that the offence of intentional killing was ‘qualified’ and demanded a retrial within the scope of this offence and requested aggravated life imprisonment.

As a result of the process taken to a higher court, the Regional Court of Appeals ruled that the Izmir 4th Heavy Penal Court should conduct a retrial on the ‘offense of intentional killing’. The court held a retrial on this charge and sentenced Volkan Hicret to life imprisonment. However, a separate file was opened for the offense of murder. This time, the Regional Court of Appeals stated that the offense of intentional killing cannot be considered as a separate file in the case and issued a reversal decision on the entire file.

Following the reversal decision, the “third sentencing hearing” of the Hande Buse Şeker case was held today at the Izmir 4th Heavy Penal Court. In contrast to the previous hearings, the prosecutor requested aggravated life imprisonment for Volkan Hicret. However, the majority of the court ‘again’ voted for life imprisonment.

Kerem Dikmen, one of the lawyers in the case, assessed the outcome for KaosGL.org. Noting that today’s hearing was held after the final reversal decision, Dikmen said, “Actually, our appeal is not different from the previous ones; we insisted that the act of killing was a qualified act. Today, unlike the previous ones, the prosecutor demanded aggravated life imprisonment. Again, a life sentence was given. In other words, while the prosecutor and one member of the court demanded aggravated life imprisonment, two members voted for life imprisonment. Therefore, life imprisonment was imposed by a majority of votes.”

What has happened in the case so far?

Hande Buse Şeker was a sex worker trans woman living in İzmir. A police officer named Volkan Hicret killed Hande Buse Şeker with his service weapon at Şeker’s home on January 9, in 2019, while he was off duty. Police officer Volkan Hicret killed Şeker, blackmailed her and sexually assaulted her after the murder. He also injured her friend at home.

A lawsuit was filed at İzmir 4th Heavy Penal Court against the killer police Volkan Hicret. The hearings were carried over self-enclosed for a while. The decision was removed thanks to the objections of the lawyers and reactions. The decision was announced at the eighth hearing in 2020, November, 26.

Lawyer Deniz Yenikaya went to the police station immediately after the murder of Hande Buse Şeker. At the police station, she encountered indifferent and harassing behavior from the police. Following the murder of trans woman Hande Buse Şeker in Alsancak, Izmir, the Young LGBTI+ Association organized a demonstration. At the call of the association, anti-transphobia activists gathered in front of the Türkan Saylan Cultural Center on January 10^th, 2019, proclaiming “Trans murders are political.”

The Izmir Bar Association LGBTI+ Rights Commission issued a statement after Hande Buse Şeker was killed by a police officer, asserting that “we will continue to do our duty as lawyers to end hate murders” and announced that it would follow the trial.

The LGBTIQ+ Rights Center of the Ankara Bar Association also released a statement saying, “The killer of Hande Şeker must be brought to justice” and announced that it would follow the trial.

The murder of Hande Buse Şeker was put on the parliamentary agenda by Serpil Kemalbay, an Izmir deputy from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), who submitted a parliamentary question to the Minister of Interior on the increasing rights violations against LGBTI+ people.

A case was filed against Volkan Hicret at the Izmir 4th Heavy Penal Court on charges of intentional killing, qualified looting thrice, insulting the memory of a person and qualified sexual assault. During the trial, a discovery was made without the presence of Şeker’s lawyers, who were suspended from the investigation.

The first hearing of the case took place on June 21. The request of the Izmir Bar Association, the Human Rights Association, the Legal Aid Association Against Sexual Violence and the Young LGBTI+ Association to intervene in the case was rejected on the grounds that they were “not direct victims” of the defendant.

The case was adjourned several times in the hearings that followed the first hearing. The court initially issued a closed decision, which was later overturned on appeal.

Tags: human rights, women