ISTANBUL (Bianet) — The defendant in the case of Sevag Balikçi, an Armenian citizen of Turkey who was shot dead during his compulsory military service, has been sentenced to 16 years and 8 months in prison this past week.
Balikçi was killed in the southeastern on April 24, 2011, the 96th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. On the day he was killed, he had 20 days to complete his service in Kozluk district of the southeastern Batman province. Compulsory military service applies to all male citizens of Turkey.
A military prosecutor’s office wrote an indictment in 2011, stating that the weapon did not have a malfunction that would cause it to open fire by itself and tests confirmed the finding.
It had requested the defendant, Kıvanç Agaoglu, to be sentenced from four to nine years in prison for intentional killing. Expert reports also found that Agaoglu was at fault.
The Diyarbakır 2nd Air Force Command Military Court sentenced Agaoglu to 4 years, 5 months and 10 days in prison for conscious and reckless killing on March 26, 2013.
The Balikçi family appealed the case at the Court of Cassation, which overturned the court ruling on procedural grounds.
