Euro court orders Turkey to pay compensation to man shot by police officer
STRASBOURG
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Dec. 19 ordered Turkey to pay 68,000 euros in compensation to a man who filed an application with the court that a police officer had shot him without subsequently being punished. The court said the police had violated his right to life.
Hasan Köse, 46, was shot in 2007 by a police officer in Turkey’s western province in İzmir. Köse said the incident happened while he and his brother were driving their van to work.
According to him, the police officers became agitated when the brothers asked to see the officers’ identity papers. They started hitting his brother and sprayed the applicant with tear gas. When the applicant grabbed a wooden stick to defend himself, one of the officers fired three shots at him, hitting him in the abdomen.
In 2008, Köse was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and severe depression as a result of being shot, while a 2010 report issued by a hospital in İzmir declared that his ability to work had been reduced by 27 percent.
In the course of the ensuing investigation and trial, the police officer maintained that he had accidentally shot the applicant during a scuffle.
However, the trial court found the police officer guilty of using excessive force and causing a life-threatening injury. The court sentenced the officer to five months in prison, but suspended the pronouncement of the judgment, as permitted under domestic law.
Köse’s objection to suspending the conviction was rejected in 2010.
Relying on Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, Köse complained to the ECHR that the police officer who had shot and injured him had been given a very light sentence and the sentence was not put into effect.
The ECHR on Dec. 18 ordered Turkey to pay a compensation of 68,000 euros to Köse, 28,000 euros in pecuniary damages and 40,000 euros in non-pecuniary damages.
