21.10.2026 18:32
In the case of 21-year-old Ümitcan Şirin, who was stabbed to death at the place where he was called under the pretext of a meeting in the İzmit district of Kocaeli, five defendants were sentenced to between 5 years 8 months and 17 years in prison, and one of the defendants, Gamzenur B., was released. Father Raif Şirin, recalling the prosecutor's request for aggravated life imprisonment, said he did not accept the sentences.
In the İzmit district of Kocaeli, in the case concerning the death of Ümitcan Şirin (21), who was stabbed at the place he was called to under the pretext of a meeting, 5 defendants who were under 18 on the date of the incident were given prison sentences ranging from 5 years 8 months to 17 years. Defendant Gamzenur B. was released. After the verdict, father Raif Şirin, who sat on the courthouse stairs and found the sentences low, reacted to the verdict by looking at the tattoo he had made after his son's death.
The incident occurred on July 26, 2025, in the Yahya Kaptan Neighborhood of İzmit district. Ümitcan Şirin went to the meeting point after receiving a message and was stabbed in an argument that broke out there. Şirin, who was seriously injured, died in the hospital where he was taken. In the investigation launched after the incident, 6 suspects were detained. While suspects Mustafa O., Gamzenur B. and Ramazan Y. were arrested, the other suspects were released.
At the previous hearing of the case at the Kocaeli 8th Heavy Penal Court, the prosecutor, in their opinion on the merits, requested that Mustafa O., Gamzenur B. and Samet E.A. each be sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment for the offense of 'deliberate killing by design.' All defendants, the parties' lawyers and Ümitcan Şirin's relatives attended the 4th hearing of the case. The court panel announced its verdict at the end of the hearing.
5 DEFENDANTS SENTENCED TO PRISON
The court sentenced Mustafa O. to 17 years in prison for the offense of 'intentional injury resulting in death.' The panel, evaluating that the defendant recorded with a mobile phone during the offense, did not apply a discretionary reduction. It was decided that Mustafa O. would remain in detention.
Ramazan Y. was sentenced to 11 years 4 months in prison for the death caused by injury. It was ordered that the defendant, to whom no discretionary reduction was applied, would remain in detention.
The court sentenced Samet E.A., who was assessed to have been at the scene and to have aided the injury, to 8 years 6 months in prison. The house arrest on the defendant was lifted, and a ban on traveling abroad was imposed.
Gamzenur B. was sentenced to 7 years 1 month in prison for aiding, with a discretionary reduction applied. The court ruled for the defendant's release and imposed a ban on traveling abroad.
Muhammed Furkan F.Y. was sentenced to 5 years 8 months in prison on the grounds that he aided in the commission of the offense. It was decided to impose a ban on traveling abroad on the defendant.
FATHER COLLAPSED ON THE COURTHOUSE STAIRS
After the verdict, Raif Şirin collapsed on the courthouse stairs and looked at the tattoo on his arm that he had made in his son's memory, featuring a 'father-son' figure. Şirin, wearing a black T-shirt bearing his son's photo and the words 'justice for Ümitcan Şirin,' reacted to the verdict, saying, 'Who tortured my son, then? Who killed my son?' Reminding of the prosecutor's request for aggravated life imprisonment, Şirin said he did not accept the sentences given by the court. Reacting to the defendants being given prison sentences of different lengths, Şirin also criticized the decisions for release and the lifting of house arrest.
Şirin, saying that he would never see or speak to his son again, recounted that he went to his grave and kissed its soil. Şirin, stating that he tried to console himself by looking at his son's photos and videos, said that he also gathered images found among his friends, and said, 'Wherever there is a photo or video of him, if his friends have them, I collect them so that something of my son, my child, remains with me. I buried my child at 21. You still say, I didn't do anything; I want my acquittal. Who did this? Who killed my son?'
THIS SENTENCE IS NOT ACCEPTABLE
Şirin stated that he thought it had not been clearly established who was responsible for his son's death. Saying that he found the sentences given to the defendants insufficient, Şirin said, 'They assigned guilt to all of them. They also assigned them punishments. This is not an acceptable sentence. I can't speak, I don't know, what can I say? I have nothing to say. They deemed this much punishment deserved for them. We will cry for a lifetime, go to his grave for a lifetime, kiss his gravestone for a lifetime. We will not be able to do anything else.'
Şirin, noting that the non-detained defendants could meet with their families, said that he could never reunite with his own son. Voicing that the defendants' families could hug their children and talk to them, Şirin reacted to the release decision and said, 'You even grant release. What is the reason for the release? You release someone who has been in prison for 15 months. What kind of thing is this? How do you release them?'