On 14 April 2019, 20-year-old Recep Hantaş was killed by police gunfire at around 3.20 a.m. in Sümer Park, in the Yenişehir district of Diyarbakır. The Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation the same day. Police officer Kazım Bozkurt was remanded in custody.
In a statement issued on 15 April 2019, the Diyarbakır Governor’s Office said that police had gone to Sümer Park after receiving a call to the 155 police emergency line reporting that two masked individuals had entered the park. According to the statement, the two individuals ran towards the officers. Police warned them to stop. R.Y. surrendered, while Recep Hantaş continued to run. Hantaş was shot after failing to stop despite a warning shot.
The first report prepared by the police officers at the scene gave a similar account. It said that police had received a report of two individuals entering the park with stones in their hands. The two individuals ran away after failing to stop when warned by police. According to the report, Recep Hantaş later ran towards the officers and fell to the ground after police opened fire. The report said that it was not known which officer had fired the shot that hit him.
The autopsy examination found that Recep Hantaş died from skull fractures and intracranial bleeding caused by a bullet that entered through the back of his neck. R.Y., who was with Hantaş at the time of the incident, gave an initial statement. He said that he and Hantaş had committed theft together and had planned to do so that day. He said that Hantaş ran away when plainclothes police officers approached them and that he then saw Hantaş being shot.
Police officer Kazım Bozkurt was released from custody on 24 May 2019.
MOBESE camera footage covering the scene was collected during the investigation. The footage was first sent to the Audio and Video Examination Branch of the Forensic Informatics Department and later to the National Criminal Bureau. Forensic video analysis compared the movements of the police officers with the footage of the shooting. The reports found that Hantaş was killed by a shot fired by Kazım Bozkurt. The footage also showed that Hantaş was not wearing a mask. He had a scarf around his neck and no weapon in his hand.
On 6 May 2021, the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued an indictment against Kazım Bozkurt. The indictment stated that Bozkurt had fired an MPT-55 long-barrelled firearm during the incident. According to the indictment, frame 8517 showed Hantaş falling to the ground, while frame 8513 showed him most clearly shortly before he fell.
The footage of the moment Hantaş was shot was not clear enough to establish whether Bozkurt had fired at that precise moment. However, footage from immediately before Hantaş fell showed Bozkurt behind and to Hantaş’s right, apparently aiming at him. None of the other police officers were in that position. This was consistent with the bullet’s entry and exit points and trajectory identified in the autopsy report. The indictment therefore sought Bozkurt’s conviction for killing with eventual intent.
The first hearing before the Diyarbakır 7th Assize Court was held on 14 September 2021. Bozkurt said that he had warned Hantaş to stop by shouting, “Stop, police.” According to Bozkurt, Hantaş responded by shouting, “Bomb, bomb.” Bozkurt said that he then fired towards the ground. He also said that Hantaş had a cleaver, was wearing gloves and had his face covered.
The Hantaş family’s lawyer said that the footage showed police officers searching for bullets on the grass. The court rejected the request to remand Bozkurt in custody and decided to conduct an on-site inspection.
At the second hearing on 9 November 2021, R.Y., who was with Hantaş at the time of the incident, was heard as a witness. A police officer who had been on duty at the scene also gave evidence. R.Y. withdrew the statement he had given during the investigation, saying that he had made a false statement because the police had threatened him. During the hearing, the lawyers for the intervening parties filed a motion for recusal of the judge. The court rejected the request.
At the hearing on 31 March 2022, the public prosecutor submitted the opinion on the merits, requesting that Kazım Bozkurt be convicted of killing with eventual intent (dolus eventualis). As some witnesses had not yet been heard, the parties were granted time to make submissions in response to the prosecutor’s opinion.
At the hearing on 16 May 2022, the court found that some witnesses had still not been heard. It sent official requests to the courts in the cities where they were located so that their statements could be taken.
At the final hearing on 21 June 2022, the Diyarbakır 7th Assize Court acquitted Kazım Bozkurt. The court noted that Bozkurt had been charged with killing Recep Hantaş with eventual intent but found that there was insufficient conclusive evidence to establish beyond reasonable doubt that he had committed the offence. It therefore issued an acquittal.
The acquittal was appealed before the Regional Court of Appeal. On 11 September 2023, the 1st Criminal Chamber of the Diyarbakır Regional Court of Appeal overturned the acquittal. The Chamber found that Bozkurt’s intent to kill had not been established. However, it found that several other issues had not been adequately assessed, including whether Bozkurt had properly exercised his power to use a firearm while performing his duties and whether he could be held responsible for exceeding the limits under Article 27(1) of the Turkish Penal Code. It also found that the question of whether the manner in which the incident occurred amounted to negligence had not been adequately assessed. The Chamber found the reasoning for the acquittal insufficient and sent the case back to the Diyarbakır 7th Assize Court for a new judgment.
The first hearing after the acquittal was overturned was held on 6 February 2024. The public prosecutor submitted a new opinion on the merits, this time requesting that Kazım Bozkurt be convicted of causing death by conscious negligence.
At the hearing on 21 May 2024, the presiding judge issued a dissenting opinion, finding that the defendant should be convicted of causing death by negligence. The majority of the court, however, decided that there were no grounds for imposing a sentence on Bozkurt.