Korkmaz’s lawyer: “Those who kicked Ali İsmail to death were awarded here today”
Following the hearing, the families of those who were murdered during the Gezi Resistance, and HDP Co-Deputy Chairperson Meral Danış Beştaş and CHP Deputy Chairman Sezgin Tanrıkulu, and Istanbul Bar President Ümit Kocasakal made press statements and condemned the verdict. The Korkmaz family announced that they would appeal the verdict. The police fired tear gas canisters onto the crowd gathering in front of the police line. The intense amount of pepper gas adversely affected the families, journalists and those who attended the hearing.
In reaction to the verdict announced by the Kayseri 3rd High Criminal Court, Ali İsmail Korkmaz’s mother Emel Korkmaz spoke in front of the court house, stating, “Ali’s life should not have been deemed to be so cheap. They tortured a 19-year old child to death, and they get 10 years. So is that this country’s justice, is this what they call justice? The whole world has watched how Ali was massacred, I can’t bear to look at that footage.”
Ali İsmail Korkmaz’s father Şahap Korkmaz said, “Our blood froze. This is such a system that it brazenly protects the murderers and thieves, and as for its victims, all it does it further aggrieve them. The release verdicts [for two of the suspect police officers] are scandalous”.
Ayhan Erdoğan, lawyer of the Korkmaz family, stated, “Those who kicked Ali İsmail to death were awarded today. We will not let this case rest. We will appeal to the Court of Cassation, and we want the suspects to be tried for voluntary manslaughter”.