Kadir Şeker, who was unintentionally involved in a murder while trying to prevent an act of violence against a woman he encountered in a park in Konya, was sentenced to 12 years and 6 months in prison in his trial. Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, who said that Şeker's sentence wounded the conscience of society, stated that after such decisions, Turkish society risks evolving into a 'couldn't care less' attitude towards incidents that it views in the same way as Western society.
Kadir Şeker, a successful student preparing for university entrance exams, was imprisoned after becoming unwittingly involved in a murder case. The sentence handed down by the Konya 3rd Heavy Penal Court was not accepted by the public conscience.
"IT ERODES OUR SOCIAL VALUES"
Üsküdar University Rector Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, who stated that the incident was psychosocial in nature, said that the public conscience was shaken after the decision. Noting that the court ruled as if it saw intent in the incident, Prof. Dr. Tarhan said, "The court interpreted intent in its own way, but Şeker was in a situation of self-defense here. Why would he want to kill someone he didn't know intentionally? How would the judge have ruled if Kadir were his relative? Courts should not make decisions that hurt the public conscience." Tarhan stated that the decision should be discussed from a sociological perspective, saying, "There are important values that distinguish our society from Western societies. What was Kadir supposed to do; film the incident and share it on social media? He tried to prevent violence like an average citizen would. This would not happen in Western societies; those who see it would say 'it's none of my business' and move on. This is an important characteristic unique to our society. Of course, this should not mean that everyone who comes across such a situation should consider themselves 'the law'." Tarhan stated that such decisions would weaken the reflex of citizens against violence and similar incidents, and that in the next stage, the court of appeal should make a decision taking our values into account.
Source: Diriliş Postası
News link: https://www.dirilispostasi.com/gundem/vicdanlara-12-yil-hanceri