Cengiz Anıl Bölükbaş
Ankara Regional Court of Justice found the sentences and acquittals in the case regarding academic Cenk Yiğiter being injured in an armed attack in front of his home in Ankara on May 20 to be appropriate. The appellate court rejected Yiğiter’s appeal and requests for the expansion of the prosecution.
The 31st Penal Chamber of the Ankara Regional Court of Justice evaluated the appeals regarding the sentences and acquittals in the case of academic Cenk Yiğiter, who was injured in an armed attack in front of his home on May 20.
The chamber found the sentences given to defendants İkbal Önal, Atilla Karapınar, and Mehmet Karapınar, as well as the child E.A. dragged into crime, to be appropriate, and decided unanimously to reject the appeals on the merits.
The appellate court found the sentences given to the defendants for the crime of “purchasing, carrying or possessing unlicensed firearms and ammunition” to be appropriate on the grounds that Yiğiter was “not a victim” and “not harmed by the crime.”
The chamber also rejected the appeal regarding the sentence given for the crime of “intentional injury,” stating that there was no legal irregularity in the decision of the local court and that the assessment was appropriate.
The appellate court also found the acquittal decision regarding the child E.A., who was dragged into crime, for the charge of “threat with a weapon,” to be appropriate, on the grounds that the alleged act was not defined as a crime in the law and that the decision of the local court was appropriate.
What happened?
Cenk Yiğiter, an academic and lawyer who had been dismissed from his position as a research assistant at Ankara University by a statutory decree, was injured in an armed attack in front of his home on May 20. In the investigation into the incident, İkbal Önal, who was allegedly the perpetrator of the attack, was detained and sent to prison. In connection with the incident, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office prepared an indictment against İkbal Önal, who was alleged to have carried out the attack, and Atillah Karapınar and his brother Mehmet Karapınar, who were alleged to have provided the weapon to Önal, for the crimes of “intentional injury” and “possession of an unlicensed firearm.”
At the verdict hearing held on December 18 at Ankara’s 47th Criminal Court of First Instance, the court sentenced defendant İkbal Önal to 3 years in prison for the crime of “injury with a firearm,” and 2 years in prison and a judicial fine of 10,000 Turkish lira for the crime of “possessing an unlicensed firearm,” sentencing the defendant to a total of 5 years in prison and a judicial fine of 10,000 Turkish lira.
Defendants Atillah Karapınar and Mehmet Karapınar were each sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison for “participating in injury with a firearm,” and 2 years in prison and a judicial fine of 10,000 Turkish lira for “possessing an unlicensed firearm,” totaling 3 years and 6 months in prison and a judicial fine of 10,000 Turkish lira each.
Case against Yiğiter
Yiğiter had previously been tried on the charge of “insulting the President.”
The prosecutor claimed that in a social media post made from Yiğiter’s account, the words “This man can say Sela with a wide mouth, why are we calling him Erdoğan? Why don’t we call him Tayyo, Tayrap or something?” were of a nature that could “offend the honor, dignity, and respectability” of President Erdoğan.
At the verdict hearing held on February 25, 2025, at Ankara’s 53rd Criminal Court of First Instance, the court ruled that “the elements of the crime had not been formed” and acquitted Cenk Yiğiter.
