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Turkish police officers jailed for beating student to death
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(2 months later)
Two Turkish policemen have been jailed for 10 years for their part in beating a student to death during anti-government protests that the Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described at the time as a coup attempt.
This could be because it launched early, our rights have expired, there was a legal issue, or for another reason.
Police used teargas, after the sentences were announced, to disperse protesters outside the courthouse in the central Turkish town of Kayseri, the broadcaster CNN Turk said.
The family of Ali Ismail Korkmaz, 19, who died after the the June 2013 protests, described the sentences as too lenient. Supporters of the police saw their treatment as unjust.
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Three other defendants were sentenced to nearly seven years in jail. A sixth man was sentenced for three years but the court decided to release him, given the time he has spent on remand.
Domestic and foreign critics of Erdoğan viewed the 2013 riots as marking an authoritarian turn in his rule. Erdoğan himself described protesters as hooligans and terrorists.
Security camera footage showed Korkmaz being hit in the head with clubs by at least four men in civilian dress before he ran away, during violent protests in the north-western town Eskisehir. Korkmaz fell into a coma and died more than a month later.
At least five other protesters and one police officer died and thousands were hurt in 2013 in unrest triggered by plans to raze Istanbul’s central Gezi Park to build a shopping mall. The demonstrations rapidly spread to other cities.
The defendants in the Kayseri trial had been convicted of contributing to his death and faced up to 13 years in jail. Korkmaz’s family expressed anger that they were given reduced sentences.
Mevlut Saldogan, a police officer who was sentenced to 10 years and 10 months in jail, told the court via a video link: “The real murderers are those behind the Gezi Park protest who sent innocent youths onto the streets.”
An estimated 5,500 people have gone on trial in almost 100 separate prosecutions, including some on terrorism charges, for taking part in the protests.
