Eighteen-year-old Syrian Ali El Hemdan was out with two friends in the Seyhan district of Adana on 27 April 2020 when police attempted to carry out an identity check. Worried that he would be fined for being outside during the curfew for people under 20, Hemdan tried to walk away from the checkpoint. About 150 metres away, at the intersection of two streets, police officer Fatih Karaca shot him once in the chest, killing him. Karaca was remanded in custody and charged with intentional killing before the Adana 9th Assize Court.
The first hearing was held on 9 July 2020. The court rejected applications by the Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD) and the Human Rights Association (İHD) to join the proceedings, finding that they had not been directly harmed by the offence. Members of the Hemdan family, who did not speak Turkish, gave their statements through an interpreter. Their lawyer, Tugay Bek, had not yet submitted a power of attorney and was given time to do so.
The court also decided to await a report from the First Specialisation Board of the Council of Forensic Medicine. It asked the panel that had prepared the autopsy report whether the location of the entry wound and the bullet made it possible to determine whether the bullet had ricocheted before striking Hemdan. The court rejected Karaca’s request for release and ordered that he remain in custody.
At the second hearing on 13 November 2020, the court noted that Tugay Bek had still not submitted a power of attorney. It was alleged that members of the Hemdan family had been threatened by police officers, prevented from freely choosing their lawyers and pressured over whom they should authorise to represent them. On this basis, ÇHD and İHD renewed their applications to join the proceedings. The court again rejected the applications.
Police officers testified as witnesses at the hearing. The court decided to hear an expert from the Council of Forensic Medicine and ordered an examination of the weight of Karaca’s firearm and its trigger sensitivity. It rejected a request for an on-site inspection and ordered that Karaca remain in custody.
At the hearing on 18 February 2021, the court again ordered that Karaca remain in custody. The parties also discussed whether lawyers who had not submitted powers of attorney could question witnesses. The court ruled that they could not. It again rejected the applications by ÇHD and İHD to join the proceedings and gave the lawyers representing the family further time to submit their powers of attorney.
At the hearing on 27 May 2021, Karaca’s lawyers requested an expert assessment of whether the fact that he had been fasting on the day of the incident and his epilepsy could have affected his criminal responsibility. They also requested his release. The court rejected both requests. Tugay Bek, who had still been unable to obtain a power of attorney from the Hemdan family, was not permitted to address the court. The applications by ÇHD and İHD to join the proceedings were once again rejected.
At the hearing on 9 September 2021, following requests by defence counsel and the public prosecutor, the court ordered the collection of records concerning Karaca’s treatment at Niğde State Hospital and Adana State Hospital and his epilepsy. Once the records had been received, Karaca was to be referred to hospital for an assessment by Adana Mental Health Hospital of whether he had criminal responsibility. The court also requested an opinion on whether fasting and fatigue on the day of the incident could have triggered sudden muscle contractions associated with epilepsy. Karaca remained in custody.
At the hearing on 25 November 2021, the public prosecutor submitted the opinion on the merits, seeking Karaca’s conviction for intentional killing under Article 81 of the Turkish Penal Code. The hearing was adjourned to allow the defence time to prepare its submissions on the merits.
Before the final hearing on 21 December 2021, Karaca submitted a written defence to the court. At the hearing, he said only that he had not intended to kill Ali El Hemdan.
The Adana 9th Assize Court found Fatih Karaca guilty of intentional killing and initially sentenced him to life imprisonment. The court then reduced the sentence after taking into account Karaca’s background, his behaviour after the incident and the potential impact of the sentence on his future, resulting in a final sentence of 25 years in prison. The court ordered that he remain in custody.
The sentence reduction was approved by a majority vote. The presiding judge dissented.