A Turkish special sergeant has received a reduced prison sentence for running over an 85-year-old woman with an armored military vehicle and killing her in Diyarbakir in 2017, Pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya News Agency (MA) reported on Wednesday.
The incident took place on June 14, 2017, in the Lice district of the mainly Kurdish populated Diyarbakir province where Pakize Hazar was crushed to death by an armored vehicle while on her way to withdraw her monthly pension.
The military vehicle which was parked on a road closed to traffic started moving when the woman was about to cross the road, according to footage released after the incident.
The vehicle is seen moving on after crushing Hazar to death, despite warnings from a man who saw the woman approaching at a distance of two meters and made some hand gestures to the soldier in an attempt to prevent the incident.
The Lice Penal Court of First Instance sentenced the special sergeant with initials S.K. to three years in prison on charges of involuntary manslaughter.
The sentence was then reduced to two years and six months due to potential effects of the punishment on the future of the offender, in line with Article 62 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) on Matters of Discretionary Mitigation.
The court also seized the driving license of S.K. for a period of six months due to violation of traffic rules by acting carelessly and without taking the necessary precautions, according to Article 53 of TCK on disqualification from use of certain rights.
Hazar’s son Veysi Hazar and lawyer Serdar Yel were also present during the hearing. Yel argued that the incident was intentional and therefore the accused should be punished for premeditated murder.
A report prepared by of the Traffic Specialization Department of the Ankara Forensic Medicine Institute, previously found S.K. a 100 percent guilty in the incident because Hazar was within the driver’s sight and the road was closed to traffic.
The killing of civilians by armored military vehicles is common in Turkey’s Southeast, where there is a heavy military presence due to clashes between the Turkish army and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
An armed group regarded as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the PKK has been fighting for self-rule in the predominantly Kurdish region southeast of Turkey since the 1980s.
Human Rights Association (IHD) said in an October 2017 report that 29 civilians were killed and 34 more were injured by Turkish armored vehicles in the last 14 months.
Two children were killed by an armored police vehicle in May 2017, when it rammed into their house in the Silopi district of southeastern Sirnak province while they were asleep.
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The post Call for harsher sentence for soldier who crushed elderly woman to death appeared first on IPA NEWS.
from IPA NEWS https://ipa.news/2019/05/09/call-for-harsher-sentence-for-soldier-who-crushed-elderly-woman-to-death/
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