AMED - The reduced prison sentence of 10 years and 10 months given to imam Kadri Ozkaya, who sexually abused a child in the mosque, was approved on appeal.

 

Imam Kadri Ozkaya, who sexually assaulted a 9-year-old child in the mosque where he worked in Amed's Rêzan (Bağlar) district on July 24, 2021, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for "attempting qualified sexual abuse" and 3 years in prison for "depriving the person of his liberty". The decision made by the Diyarbakır 3rd High Criminal Court was later transferred to the Diyarbakır Regional Court of Justice.

 

PENALTY HAS BEEN HALF

 

The court accepted the defendant's abandonment of his action after the child resisted as "voluntary renunciation" and evaluated the sentence as "excessive punishment". The Court of Appeal requested that the sentence be based on "simple sexual abuse" against the child and sent the file to Diyarbakır 3rd High Criminal Court.

 

Diyarbakır 3rd High Criminal Court sentenced the imam to 10 years for "simple sexual abuse" and reduced the sentence to 8 years and 4 months with a reduction. He was sentenced to 1 year in prison for the crime of "depriving a person of liberty". The court increased the sentence to 2 years because the crime was committed against a child. The court increased the sentence once again to 3 years because the crime was committed for sexual purposes, and reduced the sentence given to Ozkaya for the crime of "deprivation of liberty" to 2 years and 6 months by applying a discretionary reduction. The court sentenced the defendant to a total of 10 years in prison, with reductions applied, for both crimes.

 

COURT OF APPEAL APPROVED THE DECISION

 

The parties objected to the decision to the Diyarbakır Regional Court of Justice. Diyarbakır Regional Court of Justice 7th Criminal Chamber, which examined the decision, found the decision given for the crimes of "deprivation of liberty" and "sexual abuse of a child" to be appropriate and approved it.

 

CONTINUATION OF DETENTION

 

The court rejected the objection to the defendant's detention. The parties applied to the Supreme Court with a request to overturn the decision.