"Beat & Release": Torturer's Son Ended the Torture

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 3 April 2021)

                                 If looks could torture...

Yusuf Cemal Sezgin (43) spent many years in jail for wounding, theft

and drug-dealing.  He also inflicted torture on Songül Çapan, the 

mother of his children, one of whom, Haydar Mert Kaymaz (19),  he 

blinded in one eye by beating him.  Neither of Sezgin's boys bears 

his surname.  

Upon his release from prison, Sezgin wanted to get back together again 

with Songül hanım but she rejected him.  Sezgin accused Hayder

Mert of persuading his mother in this regard and threatened to kill

the whole family.  On 13 March 2020, Sezgin called Haydar Mert and

wanted him to bring a gun and some other personal items that he had

left with his son to him.  

But when Haydar Mert went to deliver the gun et al to Sezgin, his

father began cursing and tried to attack him, so Haydar Mert shot

Sezgin, killing him.   Upon his arrest, Hayder Mert stated that "He

tortured us all our lives."  In the resulting indictment, the prosecutor

asked for a sentence of 18 years for "murder with intent but under

provocation", rather than the 24 years designated for murder of a 

family member because Sezgin refused to accept that he was Hayder

Mert's real father. (!)

At the hearing held in Bakırköy, Istanbul, court, Haydar Mert 

stated that "he tortured my mother and the rest of us all our lives.

He blinded me in one eye.  We tried to get away from him by 

changing our address time and again.  Whenever we saw him the

result was either the hospital or the police station."

In her statement, Songül hanım explained that "When he was a

minibus driver he kidnapped me and continually beat me. He is

a sociopath and loves torture (!).  He hog-tied me and locked me

in a bathroom for 13 days. He broke my teeth with a hammer and

pinched my skin with pliers.  When Haydar Mert was a baby he

would smoke dope and blow it in our faces and we'd both go 

half-conscious.  He was a 'crime machine' - I heard that he raped

the women whose houses he broke into to rob. He was in and out

of jail all the time. "

"He beat me fiercely all the time and blinded Haydar Mert. To 

escape from him we tied a rope to each other and jumped from

the second floor, but I broke my legs.   Essentially, my son saved

four lives by killing him.  If there is such a thing as justice I want

it applied here."

Haydar Mert's lawyer said after the hearing, which was postponed,

that "the deceased had a record of 63 crimes.  He systematically

tortured Hayder Mert and the entire family all their lives. The

real victim here is not him but, rather, Haydar Mert and his family."