Relatives of Mehmet Şirin Kocakaya, who was tortured and killed by Turkish state forces in Lice district of Amed in 2016, have been sentenced to 2,5 months in prison each.
On 30 June 2016, a group of locals headed to an operation area to extinguish the fire started by Turkish artillery strikes in Mehlê hamlet in Yalaza (Kerwas) village of Amed's Lice district. The civilians were stopped and obstructed, and tortured by special operations police and soldiers. At least 15 locals were imprisoned in the process.
The verdict has been finalized in the case against 29 people, including relatives of Mehmet Şirin Kocakaya, who was killed during the Turkish military campaign in the region, and Sadık Araz, a reporter for Azadiya Welat who was covering the incidents in the region at the time.
The defendants are accused of “aiding an organization without being a member of it,” “Violation of the Provincial Administration Law No. 5442,” “Resisting the performance of duty,” “Insult,” and “Making organization propaganda.”
The hearing, held at the 5th Heavy Penal Court of Diyarbakır, was not attended by the defendants, who were represented by their lawyers. The prosecutor requested that 29 defendants be sentenced.
While lawyers requested acquittal for their clients, the court sentenced 22 people, including Araz, to two months and 15 days in prison each on charges of “violating the Provincial Administration Law No. 5442.” The other defendants were acquitted.
In a statement on 6 July 2016 about the operation carried out by the Turkish military in Amed between June 20 and July 2 with the participation of thousands of soldiers, People’s Defense Center (HSM) Headquarters Command stated that, “Civilian Mehmet Şirin Kocakaya "fell a martyr as a result of torture by the enemy forces" following the clash in the hamlet of Pêşkevir on June 30.”
