Court sets precedent: Ministry to pay compensation to family of murdered woman for “failing to protect”
Prison sentences for many crimes
Additionally, images of Kafal Yein have surfaced near the workshop where the woman was killed. Yein was arrested on November 8th at the home of his friend MG (67) in Fatih district, Konak county, with a gun as the murder weapon. While Yein was arrested, his friend MG was released.
The Izmir 14th High Criminal Court sentenced Kafal Yein to life imprisonment for “premeditated murder of his wife,” a maximum sentence of 15 years for “nighttime robbery with a gun,” and a maximum sentence of three years for the same offense. A case was filed regarding “purchasing, carrying or possessing unlicensed firearms and ammunition.”
He was sentenced to a total of five years and five months in prison.
In addition, a case was filed against Kafal Yein, who had been accused of various things before the murder, in the 50th First Instance Criminal Court seeking a maximum sentence of 13 years imprisonment for crimes such as “threat against women”, “insult”, “relentless pursuit” and “simple injury”. At the sentencing hearing in this case, Yein said: He was sentenced to 8 months and 22 days imprisonment for insult, 1 year and 3 months imprisonment for intimidation of women, 1 year and 6 months imprisonment for simple injury, and 2 years imprisonment for persistent stalking, for a total of 5 years, 5 months and 22 days in prison.
Kafal Yein’s lawyers then opposed the decision, claiming that there were no criminal elements, and the murdered woman’s family opposed the decision, claiming that further punishment should be given. The 25th Criminal Chamber of the Izmir Regional Judicial Court approved the decision and rejected the appeal, finding that there were no elements of change or error in the decision of the Criminal Court of First Instance. With this decision, one of the files on which Kafal Yein was tried was finalized, and the execution phase of the death penalty began.
Service deficiency lawsuit against the Ministry
Additionally, a lawsuit was filed against 12 police officers for “negligence” in relation to Şeravç Yein’s death, with prison sentences ranging from three months to one year. Şeravç Yein’s son-in-law and family lawyer, Ensar Aktürk, also filed a service deficiency lawsuit against the Ministry of Interior on October 17, 2023.
Lawyer Aktürk cited as justification Ms. Hülya Şeravcı’s repeated complaints to the police and relevant authorities, her death as a result of the failure to take necessary precautions, her right to life not being protected by the regime and her poor treatment, and demanded 2.5 million TL in non-pecuniary damages.
The ministry claimed that the necessary conditions had not been met.
The ministry argued that in the case in question, all procedures were fully carried out by law enforcement agencies in accordance with the prosecutor’s instructions and that the conditions necessary for the government to be liable for compensation were not met. If the conditions are not met, the amount of non-pecuniary damages awarded by the court should be assessed in a manner that does not give rise to unjust enrichment. It also argued that the case should be dismissed.
The Izmir 3rd Administrative Court evaluated the case and awarded non-pecuniary damages totalling TL 2.5 million to Hülya Şellavcı’s daughter, son, mother and two brothers.
Management service flaw detected
Providing information on the case, Ensar Aktürk, son-in-law and family lawyer of Hülya Şellavcı, said: “The purpose of this lawsuit was the erroneous actions and negligence of the units attached to the Ministry of Interior, that is, public authorities.” As a matter of fact, the court wrote up a judgment and sent it to us, in which it was decided to accept the claim for non-pecuniary damages. “A total of 2.5 million TL was paid to the brothers as non-pecuniary damages, but it was determined that there was gross negligence on the part of the police officers even if there had been no such thing. In particular, the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights also mentioned the issue of delayed submission of documents, waiting for procedures or not taking action in the case of death threats. It noted that if a danger exists and it is foreseeable, the public administration should take the necessary preventive measures. However, it was emphasized that in the concrete case there was a clear negligence of the administration, because in the process. Hülya Şellavcı applied five times to different police stations in 21 days. One application was made to the Prosecutor General’s Office and one to the Violence Prevention and Monitoring Center (ŞÖNİM). In other words, in all these applications he proved with evidence that he was under threat of being killed. “Despite this, the administration was found negligent by the Izmir 3rd Administrative Court for not taking any preventive measures and was awarded compensation,” he said.
“Pay the careless ones to quit.”
Attorney Aktürk said the ministry may take this decision to a higher court, saying their goal is to recover this money from negligent officials, not from the state treasury, and they will work hard for that, saying, “We cannot accept this ruling. We will identify those responsible and demand compensation from them even in this situation, and we believe that everyone should be held accountable. Even if it is 2.5 million TL, 25 million TL, or 250 million TL, it will not ease the pain of the family. The judge understood and interpreted that there are two children who lost their mother at a young age. We tried to convey the whole process of this case to them through the petition. We hope that such decisions will continue to be made and will be beneficial for society,” he said.
