Slain Turkish teacher's lawyers question identity of man who ordered police to fire tear gas

Duvar English 

Lawyers and relatives of a teacher who died as a result of a heart attack triggered by tear gas have questioned the identity of a man in a newly surfaced video. 

The video dated May 31, 2011 - the day that Metin Lokumcu died - shows the man in a suit ordering police to fire tear gas at protesters. 

The man is also seen telling officers to stand in a position that shows strength, before firing tear gas himself. 

Lokumcu, a 54-year-old teacher, died during the protests against then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's visit to the Hopa district of the Black Sea province of Artvin. Police tried to disperse protesters with tear gas, causing the teacher's death. 

Speaking about the newly surfaced footage, lawyer Meriç Eyüboğlu said that the prosecutor's office should accept it as a criminal complaint. 

She also said that they don't know whether the mysterious person is among the suspects in the case. 

The first hearing of the case will be held on Dec. 20 in the Black Sea province of Trabzon, around ten years after Lokumcu's death. 

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