82-year-old woman’s community service sentence ends after fight with cane

MANİSA

DHA photo

An 82-year-old woman in the Aegean province of Manisa, who received a sentence to serve community service by guarding a mosque in her village after she got involved in a fight with her cane, was cleared of charges on Feb. 23 after seven months, Doğan News Agency has reported.

Fatma Sazan was given a penalty after she tried to stop a fight that occurred in July 2016 in front of her house with her walking stick, which was deemed to be an offensive weapon by a court. 

Sazan had been fined 3,000 Turkish Liras of penalty, but was later sentenced to serve community service after she said she could not afford it. 

She guarded a mosque for four hours a day for seven months in the Soma district of Manisa.

Her mandatory community service ended after ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmaker for Manisa Selçuk Özdağ, Soma district governor Ahmet Altıntaş and Soma Mayor Hasan Ergene interfered.

Özdağ said Sazan’s fine was paid off, confirming that her sentence was over.

“After I learned about the situation from newspapers, I interfered with the help of the media. I called to inform Soma district governor Ahmet Altıntaş and Soma Mayor Hasan Ergene about the situation. They identified that Sazan’s family was unfortunate and that they were receiving aid from the state. The district’s governor and its mayor paid the fine of Fatma ‘Nine’ [Grandmother]. I thank them for their sensitiveness on the issue. Fatma ‘Nine’ will not have to wait in front of the mosque any longer,” he said. 

Some 10 days were left for Sazan to complete her sentence and had to pay 480 Turkish Liras to be cleared of the charges.