ANKARA
A Turkish court convicted policeman Ahmet Sahbaz on Wednesday for the premeditated murder of a 26-year-old anti-government protester during street protests in Ankara in June last year.
Ankara 6th High Criminal Court sentenced Sahbaz to 7 years and 9 months in prison, for shooting Ethem Sarisuluk on June 1, 2013, near Guvenpark in central Ankara during Gezi Park protests. The protests began as an environmental demonstration in Istanbul and quickly mushroomed into nationwide anti-government protests over plans to replace Gezi Park in Istanbul with a shopping mall.
A postmortem examination suggested that Sarisuluk was shot in the head by a 9mm bullet. CCTV and media footage showed the encounter between the protesters, including the deceased, and the accused policeman Sahbaz who was seen running from the scene holding a pistol.
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