A judge’s decision to acquit a boyfriend who claimed his girlfriend had leapt to her death from a second-floor apartment has sparked outrage in Turkey.
Accused Yilmaz Sazak, 34, pled not guilty to intentional homicide despite apparently overwhelming evidence against him.
He claimed his 36-year-old girlfriend Zerrin Kilinc had committed suicide by jumping to her death.
The Eskisehir 5th Heavy Penal Court had heard how police found a broken broom handle that prosecutors said had been used to beat Zerrin.
Forensic examiners also found blood, a shattered ashtray and broken glass on the floor of the apartment, which prosecutors said was evidence of a violent struggle.
The court even heard that Sazak had previously served eight months in jail for issuing threats against a woman, said in court to be Zerrin.
But the court set Sazak free after stating that there was no “direct evidence” he had killed Zerrin on 20th June last year.
The judgement has outraged her family and prosecutors who have appealed the verdict.
Her family told local media that Zerrin had everything to live for with a 12-year-old daughter and a cosmetic surgery procedure booked to give her new confidence.
She’d booked a family holiday and spoke regularly with her father, who lives in France.
In response to the court’s decision, the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor of Eskisehir lodged an appeal with the Ankara Regional Court of Justice.
Ahmet Seyha – the legal representative for the Kilinc family – also filed an appeal.
