Turkish prosecutor seeks acquittal for football fans
Date
9/11/2015 12:21:17 PM
(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) A Turkish prosecutor has sought acquittal for a group of Turkish football fans accused of trying to overthrow the government during the 2013 Gezi protests.
In Istanbul’s Caglayan courthouse prosecutor Abdullah Mirza Coskun said Friday there had been no “sufficiently certain and tangible evidence” against the 35 suspects to charge them with overthrowing the government.
The Istanbul Public Prosecutor’s office had previously prepared an indictment in September 2013 to demand life sentences for the Besiktas fans for “attempting to overthrow the legally elected government through illegal means".
However the prosecutor’s office has failed to provide clear evidence supporting this allegation.
Additionally police officers participating in hearings denied the charges and had no complaints against the group.
The football fans also denied the charges.
However prosecutor Coskun did charge the group with violating the law on meetings and demonstrations and requested jail terms ranging from one-and-a-half to three years for all defendants.
Coskun also asked the court to jail four of them for violating the law on firearm and knife possession.
Following Coskun’s considerations Ali Riza Dizdar a lawyer representing some of the defendants claimed meetings and marches during the 2013 Gezi Park protests were “legal”.
Several lawyers and defendants requested more time to counter the prosecutor’s allegations. The court ruled to postpone the next hearing to Dec. 29.
The 2013 protests began as an environmental demonstration in Istanbul and quickly mushroomed into a nationwide anti-government protest over plans to replace Gezi Park in Istanbul with a shopping mall.
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