Sevag Balikci Was Shot By Mistake, Court Rules

SEVAG BALIKCI WAS SHOT BY MISTAKE, COURT RULES

BIAnet.org, Turkey
March 27 2013

A Diyarbakır military court found Kıvanc Agaoglu guilty of felony
murder of Sevag Balıkcı, a Turkish Armenian who was shot dead under
compulsory military service on April 24, 2011 – 96th anniversary of
the Armenian Genocide.

Ekin KARACA [email protected]

A Diyarbakır military court found Kıvanc Agaoglu guilty of felony
murder of Sevag Balıkcı, a Turkish Armenian who was shot dead under
compulsory military service on the 96th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide in 2011.

The judge ordered defendant Agaoglu to serve 4 years and 5 months of
prison on the 12th hearing yesterday.

“When our lawyers presented the case, they claimed that the act of
pointing a loaded G3 rifle to an individual could not be a mistake,”
Garo Paylan from Justice for Sevag Initiative, said.

“We have also alerted the court that the killing might be due to a
racist act since it coincides with Easter and the anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide. We have reminded them that these claims have not
been thoroughly investigated. In the end, the court found defendant
guilty only of felony murder.”

Paylan also claimed that eyewitnesses changed their testimonies due
to pressures over the course of the trial.

“The worries of Sevag’s family has doubled since then. After the
murder of Hrant Dink, we have a new symbolic murder on Armenians
in Turkey. Unfortunately, the Turkish state did not show a reflect
to uncover the murder of Sevag Balıkcı. It went obscure again,”
Paylan said.

“This is deepening our traumas. This is just another sign that
Armenians are facing discrimination in the Turkish judicial system.”

(EKN/BM)

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress