The father who strangled his son was not punished! Here is the reasoning behind the decision.

A decision was made regarding the father, who allegedly caused the death of his son, who was claimed to be a drug addict, by choking him during a fight. The public prosecutor requested the punishment of the defendant, while the court panel stated that the father committed the crime by exceeding the legal limits of self-defense due to fear or panic, and therefore decided that there was no basis for punishment.

The incident occurred on November 14, 2022, in an apartment located on Kuvayı Milliye Street in the Ayazma neighborhood. A dispute broke out between Yunus Ş. (24), who was alleged to be a drug addict, and his father Şakir Ş. (55). As the argument escalated, Yunus Ş. attacked his father. The responding father, Şakir Ş., choked his son. When Şakir Ş. saw that his son had lost consciousness, he released his grip. Mother Arzu Ş. reported the incident to the 112 Emergency Call Center. Despite all medical interventions at the hospital, Yunus Ş. could not be saved and passed away. Şakir Ş., who was taken into custody, was arrested by the court he was brought to and sent to prison. In the first hearing held on November 1, 2023, the defendant was released under judicial control to be tried without detention.

THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR REQUESTED 24 YEARS

The hearing of the case related to the incident continued at the Kocaeli 3rd High Criminal Court. The defendant Şakir Ş. and his lawyer Hakan Akkaya attended the hearing. The defendant Şakir Ş. stated that he reiterated his previous defenses. In his opinion, the public prosecutor stated that on the date of the incident, Yunus Ş. insulted the defendant by saying, "Sell your wife, give me money," referring to his mother Arzu Şen, and that a physical altercation occurred between them as a result of these words, during which the deceased hit the defendant in the chest, and the defendant caused the death of the deceased by choking him.

In the opinion stating that the defendant's actions did not proportionately repel the unjust attack, it was emphasized that, for this reason, the provisions of self-defense could not be applied in his favor, that the first unjust act was committed by the deceased, and that the defendant committed the crime under this unjust provocation. The prosecutor requested that the defendant be punished with aggravated life imprisonment, but concluded that the crime was committed under unjust provocation and requested that the defendant be sentenced to imprisonment of 18 to 24 years. In response to the opinion on the merits, the defendant Şakir Ş. stated, "I request my acquittal and the application of the provisions in favor of me that are contrary to this opinion."

"BECAUSE THEY WERE AFRAID OF THE DECEASED..."

The defendant's lawyer Hakan Akkaya stated, "We do not agree with the opinion. My client has been subjected to violence by the deceased multiple times, and this has been proven in the latest recorded audio recordings. On the day of the incident, the defendant acted to protect himself and his wife. The defendant and his wife are people who sleep in turns because they are afraid of the deceased. During the incident, the deceased attacked my client, and while my client was resisting, the deceased became motionless. We believe that this incident occurred due to the deceased's lung health issues. Perhaps if my client had performed this act on a healthy person, death would not have occurred. We primarily request my client's acquittal and the application of the provisions in favor of him that are contrary to this opinion," he stated.

IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT HE COMMITTED THE CRIME WITH EXCITEMENT AND FEAR

The court panel decided that the defendant committed the alleged acts due to a justifiable excitement, fear, or panic while having to repel the unjust attack proportionately according to the circumstances at that moment, and therefore concluded that there was no fault on his part, ruling that there was no basis for punishment.

DEFENSE IN THE FIRST HEARING

In his defense during the first hearing held on November 1, 2023, Şakir Ş. stated that Yunus lived in Istanbul, occasionally came to Kocaeli, and that he had come to Kocaeli by bus from Istanbul the day before the incident, and that they had gone to the bus station with family members to pick him up. Şakir Ş. mentioned that they went to the bus station with the police due to Yunus constantly threatening his mother, stating that Yunus cursed when he saw the police and that they went to the police station to give a joint statement, adding, "After a while, they released Yunus from the police station. As a father, I couldn't stand it. When I went towards the police station, I saw Yunus lying in the park. When he saw me, he ran away, and I caught him while he was running. My intention was to bring him home; I couldn't bear to see him sleeping on the street. My eldest son İbrahim and my wife Arzu were with me. We got into the car to go home together. I stopped to get water on the way. When I went to get water, Yunus shouted to the guards, 'They will kill me.' The guards took us to the police station. I asked them to give us my son, saying he was sick, but they refused, saying he was 24 years old. After that, we went home," he stated.