In the case whose trial was completed yesterday at Istanbul Anatolian 2nd High Criminal Court, father Yusuf Ziya Gümüşel was sentenced to 20 years in prison, mother Fatma Gümüşel was sentenced to 16 years and 8 months in prison, and Kadir İstekli was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The lynching and smear campaign, which was launched in the past months with the slander of sexual abuse of a 6-year-old child, was deliberately inflamed in front of the public.
The trial of the case filed regarding the marriage of H.K.G., the daughter of Hiranur Foundation's founder Yusuf Ziya Gümüşel, to Kadir İstekli, was completed yesterday at the Istanbul Anatolian 2nd High Criminal Court.
At the hearing, the judge sentenced H.K.G. as well as father Yusuf Ziya Gümüşel and Kadir İstekli.
Accordingly, father Yusuf Ziya Gümüşel was sentenced to 20 years in prison, mother Fatma Gümüşel was sentenced to 16 years and 8 months in prison, and Kadir İstekli was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The court judge also stated that an objection to the decision was open.
LYNCHING AND PERCEPTION MANAGEMENT WON
In the case, which was turned into a lynching by some marginal groups with an ideological approach, the court sentenced the defendants and left the possibility of appeal open.
Arrested defendants Yusuf Ziya Gümüşel and Kadir İstekli attended the hearing at the Anatolian 2nd High Criminal Court.
Members of the press and spectators were not allowed into the hearing where the final defenses were taken, as there was a confidentiality order and a publication ban on the file.
After the defenses were completed, members of the press and the audience were taken into the hall while the court panel announced the decision.
The court sentenced the detained defendant Kadir İstekli to 30 years in prison for "qualified sexual abuse of a child more than once" and the father Yusuf Ziya Gümüşel to 20 years in prison for the same crime.
The committee sentenced the complainant H.K.G's mother, Fatima Gümüşel, to 16 years and 8 months in prison for the same crime.
The court also decided to issue a warrant for the arrest of the undetained defendant Fatima Gümüşel.
STATEMENT FROM KADEM, CONTRIBUTING TO LYNCY
Lawyer Işıl Ilgın Oktay, a member of the Board of Directors of the Women and Democracy Foundation (KADEM), which is managed by people close to the government, made a press statement in front of the courthouse after the decision.
"As in every incident that deeply hurts the conscience of society, we believe that the trial was conducted fairly and the sentence was given in this important case, whose verdict hearing was held today. Our hope is that such events that hurt the conscience of society will not happen again," Oktay said.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Some circles had consciously attempted to lynch H.K.G., the daughter of Hiranur Foundation's founder Yusuf Ziya Gümüşel, for her marriage to Kadir İstekli, without investigating the truth of the incident.
The case, which had a wide public impact upon H.K.G.'s allegations, quickly turned into an attack on Islamic structures.
Hiranur Foundation was closed as a result of the incident, which turned into a lynching campaign based on H.K.G.'s allegations, regardless of the defense of the defendant.
Yusuf Ziya Gümüşel and Kadir İstekli, against whom a smear campaign was launched, were arrested.