Two Turkish policemen get 10 year sentences in killing of protestor
The sentences were far lower than the life imprisonment demanded by prosecutors.
KAYSERI, Turkey (AFP) - Two Turkish police were jailed Wednesday for at least 10 years over the killing of a teenage protestor during 2013 demonstrations against the rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The court in the central city of Kayseri sentenced Mevlut Saldogan to 10 years and 10 months in prison and fellow police officer Yalcin Akbulut to 10 years for the killing of Ali Ismail Korkmaz, 19, in the western city of Eskisehir on June 2, 2013.
The sentences were far lower than the life imprisonment demanded by prosecutors.
The judgement sparked uproar in the courtroom, with supporters of the Korkmaz family chanting "you are all assassins" and "the assassin state will be brought to account".
Three bakers were handed sentences of six years, eight months for taking part in the killing while another suspect received a three year and four months sentence.
Two other police were acquitted for lack of evidence.
The court threw out charges that the murder had been premeditated, resulting in lighter sentences than those demanded by prosecutors.
The teen s mother, Emel, slammed the verdict saying: "I did not expect this. The people who killed a young 19 year-old boy do not deserve to benefit from any clemency."
Korkmaz died after being pummelled with baseball bats and truncheons in one of the most notorious examples of police brutality in the protests.
He suffered a brain haemorrhage and died after 38 days in a coma.
He was one of eight people to have been killed in the three weeks of unrest sparked by plans to redevelop an Istanbul park that then grew into a nationwide wave of anger against Erdogan, then premier.
