türkçe links to original Turkish article
(Cumhuriyet Newspaper, 14 March 2022)
Lesson learned: be careful of the people you meet on the
'dolmuş'.
A legal decision has been announced that has infuriated Turkey with
regard to the murders of women. In the case of the killing of Hatice
Kaçmaz (33), a TRT performer, in September 2014, the "Yargıtay"
(YCGK, Supreme Court of Appeals Penal Council) has ruled that
"if she had accepted his marriage proposal, he wouldn't have killed
her." (!) As a result, murderer Orhan Munis will be freed from jail at
age 65, instead of age 71. All of the 14 YCGK members are men.
Munis was born in 1979 and in February 2001 he killed his own brother
Burhan in Erzurum for playing music too loudly, by stabbing him 8
times. In his defense, Munis said that he had just returned from army
service a week before so his nerves were on edge. (!) Munis was given
a life sentence for the murder but it was reduced to 22 years because
he committed the murder "under incitement and he showed remorse",
as well. In any case,Munis stayed in jail only until 2013, when he was
released.
Subsequently, Munis met Hatice hanım by chance on a "dolmuş"
(collective taxi) in Ankara. Hatice hanım had lost her husband in a car
accident in 2012 and was living with her 4-year-old daughter. Just 15
days after they met, Munis proposed marriage to Hatice hanım, who
had a friend look into Munis's past, whereupon she learned about his
prison time. Hatice hanım tried to get away from Munis but he
persisted with his marriage proposal.
After killing Hatice hanım, the court ruled that Munis had committed
the murder out of "an excess of love" and gave him a sentence reduction,
deciding that "when the deceased rejected his marriage proposal he was
seized by his love for her, could not bear the thought of separation, and
stabbed her to death. His emotional breakdown and fury are reflected
in the number of stabbing strikes so he was unable to think straight.
Consequently, the murder could not have been pre-planned but it was
nevertheless intentional, resulting in a lifetime jail sentence."
Despite the ruling, Hatice hanım's family, having lost their daughter
and left with an orphaned grandchild, pressed on for justice. They
convinced the public prosecutor that Munis's jail sentence should be
for "pre-planned murder" and the prosecutor wrote that: "the suspect
bought a knife to 'butcher an animal' for 7 TL but he did not have
enough money to purchase an animal. Hatice Kaçmaz recorded their
telephone conversations, fearing for her life. The suspect took the knife
out from his belt while in the taxi en route to his meeting with Hatice
Kaçmaz and hid it in his sock, intent on killing her. He prepared for
the killing in full command of his faculties."
Nevertheless, YCGK rejected the prosecutor's objection and confirmed
the lesser jail sentence. So although Munis had killed his own brother,
was released from jail after serving only 13 years and claimed that the
knife he killed Hatice hanım with was intended for sacrificing an
animal, the YCGK found all this insufficient to characterize the murder
of Hatice hanım as "pre-planned", ruling that the 19.9 centimeter knife
he brought with him to meet Hatice hanım was used in "a moment of
rage".
The YCGK, in its ruling, noted that if Hatice hanım had accepted
Munis's marriage proposal he would not have been seized by the fury
her rejection imposed on him and which resulted in his "emotional
breakdown". (!) The YCGK's decision was opposed by 5 of the 14
members, all of whom are men.
As with his early release from jail for killing his brother, Munis may now
similarly be released early from this sentence. If the YCGK had ruled
that the murder was "pre-planned" then Munis would have been eligible
for release from jail at age 71. Now, he will be eligible at age 65.
Men's Club
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder