Police victim's father to be tried over 'terrorism' after court overturns acquittal ruling in Turkey's Şırnak

The acquittal decision for the father of a police victim from the Kurdish-dominated southeastern province of Şırnak was overturned. 24-year-old Hacı Lokman Birlik was shot to death and his body was dragged behind an armored vehicle. Birlik's father and nine others once again face terrorism charges for shouting Kurdish slogans at his funeral.

Duvar English

The father of Hacı Lokman Birlik, a 24-year-old Kurdish man who was shot 28 times and whose body was dragged behind an armored vehicle by police in 2015 in the southeastern province of Şırnak, will be tried over "terrorism" accusations after a court overturned an acquittal ruling.

Father Hasan Birlik and nine others were accused of being a member of a terrorist organization for attending Hacı Lokman Birlik's funeral and carrying his photograph.

While a court in Şırnak, where the case was being seen, ruled on the suspects' acquittal on the grounds of insufficient evidence, a higher court in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır overturned the ruling, claiming that Birlik was a member of the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK).

The Diyarbakır court said that the Kurdish slogan "şehît namirin," meaning "martyrs don't die," and the display of yellow, red and green, colors of the Kurdish flag, was considered terrorist propaganda.

The reversal of Hasan Birlik and nine others' acquittal will restart the judicial process.

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