Gezi victim’s brother on HDP candidate list for Nov 1 polls

Mesut Hasan Benli - ANKARA

Mustafa Sarısülük, the brother of Ethem Sarısülük, who died during the Gezi Park protests in 2013 when a police officer shot him, has been named a candidate for the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in the Nov. 1 general elections.

The HDP candidate from Ankara said he will be the representative of the Gezi Park uprising two years ago.

“I will actively work for justice, equality and democracy, which were the demands of the people who hit the streets during the Gezi protests, if I am elected. I will be the representative of the Gezi [Park protests] in parliament,” Sarısülük said. 

Police officer Ahmet Şahbaz shot Ethem Sarısülük as police were moving in on protesters in Ankara’s central Kızılay Square on June 1, 2013. Sarısülük died after being hospitalized for more than two weeks, becoming the third protester to be killed at the hands of the police during the protests.

On Sept. 3, the 6th Court of Serious Crimes in Ankara ordered Şahbaz’s discharge. 

Şahbaz had been sentenced to seven years, nine months and 10 days in prison for shooting Sarısülük point blank, but the prosecutor in the case had demanded a far heavier sentence of between 26 and 33 years in prison.

The ruling was eventually overturned by the Turkish Supreme Court of Appeals, which argued the officer should be charged with “premeditated murder,” instead of “possible premeditated murder” in light of the evidence presented to the court.