Slain prosecutor Kiraz took significant steps in Gezi protesters' cases

Istanbul prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz, who was killed in an operation against his two captors late on March 31, had made considerable progress in the cases of protesters wounded and killed during the Gezi Park protests in the summer of 2013.

One of Kiraz?s most recent activities was to demand the improvement of footage taken during incidents in order to reveal the faces of police officers who fired tear gas canisters at Gezi protester Okan Özçelik, who later lost sight in one of his eyes. On March 18, Kiraz demanded that the Gendarmerie Criminal Laboratory ?improve the footage captured to help identify the police officer who used the tear gas gun? against Özçelik during the Gezi protests.

The prosecutor also sent the footage used in the case of Gezi victim Berkin Elvan to the criminal laboratory to identify the police officers in the scene.

After Kiraz?s demand, the expert report revealed that the police did not shoot the tear gas at the necessary 45-degree angle and instead directly targeted Özçelik. The expert?s report also revealed the helmet numbers of the police officers involved in the incident, upon Kiraz?s demand.

?afak Yayla and Bahtiyar Do?ruyol of the outlawed far-left Revolutionary People?s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) took Kiraz, 46, hostage in his office. The captors were killed in a shootout, while Kiraz died at the hospital from sustained injuries.

The perpetrators? demands included a live confession by the police officers suspected of killing 15-year-old Elvan, a prosecution of the officers responsible in a ?people?s court,? the acquittal of all people being tried for participation in solidarity rallies for Elvan, as well as free passage away from the courthouse.

Elvan died on March 11, 2014...