The accident occurred on February 4 in Cumhuriyet District of Gebze district. The student bus with license plate 41 P 3597, driven by İsa Can, hit Ela Tabakoğlu, a first grade primary school student, while turning from 2232nd Street to 2230th Street. Despite the intervention of the medical teams who were dispatched to the address upon notice, Ela could not be saved. Driver İsa Can, who was arrested after the accident, was released from prison during the trial phase after being detained for 4.5 months, and it was decided to impose house arrest on him.
The decision hearing of the case filed regarding the incident at the Gebze 12th Criminal Court of First Instance was held today. Ela's mother Serpil and father Fatih Tabakoğlu and the party lawyers attended the hearing. Defendant İsa Can's lawyer requested that the judicial control measure in the form of house arrest against his client be lifted. While the court sentenced İsa Can to 5 years, 10 months and 22 days in prison, it also took into account the time he spent in detention and ruled that his house arrest be lifted and he be released.
Ela's father, Fatih Tabakoğlu, who could not control his anger after the decision and reacted to the decision by throwing the microphone on the floor in the courtroom, was injured in his finger. Tabakoğlu, who made a statement after leaving the courthouse, stated that he had been fighting for his daughter for about 8 months and that the release of the defendant had frustrated all his efforts, and said: "We wanted the incident to be a possible premeditation and to be tried with the heaviest penalty. According to the verdict here, the murderer will be able to walk around the streets very easily. Since he has his driver's license, he will be able to hurt others very well until the verdict is announced. I want to address our state officials from here. If my blood will remain on the walls of this courthouse, what are you doing there?" "Those who murdered a 6-year-old child in a chain of negligence are now spending their time comfortably on the street with their children. I am ashamed to go to my daughter's grave tomorrow. How will I go to my daughter? We spent so much time here today, this is how I live my life."
Tabakoğlu family's lawyer, Kübra Süleyman, said that they found the sentence given to the defendant low. Stating that their demands for the incident to be evaluated within the scope of possible intent were not met, Süleyman said: "An increase in conscious negligence was made against the defendant and a discount for good behavior was not applied. However, our demands that this incident was possible intentionality were not met. We do not want revenge here, we want justice. We do not want the pain of a family to turn into anger, we want this anger to find a voice in the face of the law. Ela will not come back, but this court decision has increased our pain even more. Because the house arrest decision about the defendant has also been lifted and as of today, the defendant has his hands free among us." "We demand that the most fair decision be made for Ela, for her family, and for the public conscience, and we want the defendant to be tried in custody. We will make all necessary objections in this regard. I would like to say to the grieving family, please do not bow down."
Stating that the decision does not correspond to the justice they demanded and that they want the defendant to be punished in the most severe way, lawyer Süleyman continued as follows: "We will make all our objections and applications on this issue. The equivalent in execution law of the sentence of 5 years, 10 months and 22 days is a prison sentence of nearly 2 years, with approximately 1 month in a closed prison and the remaining 1 year and 10 months in an open prison. In other words, the equivalent of the sentence in execution law is low. However, the sentence and execution of this sentence are low." "It is possible. We will submit all our objections to the Court of Appeal. We will submit all our evidence, camera footage and expert reports indicating that the incident was a possible intent. However, many responsible persons have been identified. Investigation permissions have been issued against those responsible, both by the National Education and the Forensic Medicine Department. We will do our best to punish all those responsible, including the car stewardess who is primarily at fault."
