Having attacked Can Dündar, defendant not to be jailed despite prison term

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The İstanbul 28th Penal Court of First Instance has handed down its ruling in the retrial of Murat Şahin, who carried out an armed attack against the then Cumhuriyet Chief Editor Can Dündar in front of the İstanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan and wounded NTV reporter Yağız Şenkal.

At the final hearing of Şahin, along with the other defendants Sabri Boyacı and Habip Ergün Celep, Şahin said that he knew Sabri Boyacı "from the town" and did not know Habip Ergün Celep at all. He said that he himself decided to carry out the attack against the journalist.

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Defendant Murat Şahin demanded his acquittal, saying, "My act was against Can Dündar. The fire was opened on Can Dündar. But as he intervened and the bullet bounded, Yağız Şenkal was wounded."

Handing down its ruling, the court has ruled that Murat Şahin shall be sentenced to 1 year, 8 months in prison for threatening Can Dündar with a firearm and to 7 months, 15 days in prison for "deliberately wounding" Yağız Şenkal. He has also been sentenced to 10 months in prison and a judicial fine of 500 lira for "the possession of an unregistered firearm".

Taken together, assaulter Murat Şahin has been given 3 years, 1 month, 15 days in prison and a judicial fine of 500 lira.

The court board has also ruled that other defendants Sabri Boyacı and Habip Ergün Celep shall be acquitted of the charged offenses of "threat" and "wounding with a firearm" on the grounds of lack of evidence.

That being the case, Murat Şahin, who attacked Can Dündar with a gun and wounded Yağız Şenkal in his foot, will not be sent to jail.

What happened?

On May 6, 2016, while journalists Can Dündar and Erdem Gül were waiting for the ruling of the court in the MIT trucks case in front of Çağlayan Courthouse in İstanbul, Murat Şahin shot at Dündar with a firearm. Yağız Şenkal, the reporter of the NTV news channel, was injured in the attack.

Having launched the attack, Şahin was detained at the scene of the incident; he was released afterwards.

Two days later, two more people were detained as it was suspected that one of them instigated the attack and the other kept watch. Suspects Sabri Boyacı and Habip Ergün Celep were released after they were first interrogated at the prosecutor's office, then before the court.

Murat Şahin was indicted for "deliberate injury, threat with a firearm, possession of an unregistered firearm and insult" and faced 4 years to 12 years, 10 months in prison; Sabri Boyacı and Habip Ergün Celep, who allegedly instigated the attack, were also indicated for "attempted deliberate injury and threat with a firearm" and faced 2.5 years to 6.6 years in prison.

The İstanbul 28th Penal Court of First Instance released Murat Şahin at the first hearing on October 21, 2016. At the final hearing on October 2, 2018, Şahin was sentenced to a judicial fine of 270 days on charge of "injury with a firearm". Considering his "good conduct" during the hearings, the judicial fine of the defendant was reduced to 225 days.

All in all, the court sentenced assaulter Şahin to pay a judicial fine of 4,5000 lira in total and to pay it in 20 installments.

Şahin was given a prison sentence of 10 months on charge of "possession of an unregistered firearm." The other defendants were acquitted.

Wounded in the attack, NTV reporter Yağız Şenkal appealed against the ruling. Overturning the local court ruling, the appeals court ruled that a retrial should be held. (HA/SD)