Officers face jail for death of US woman at Istanbul's Atatürk airport

A prosecutor asked for prison terms of up to 16 years for four police officers for the 2013 death of U.S. national Tracey Lynn Brown at Istanbul's Atatürk Airport. A doctor in the case also faces six years in prison.

Brown was a transit passenger at the airport when she entered an office used by police officers on April 4, 2013. The prosecutor said she was forcibly removed from the room when she refused to leave and returned hours later to the room, throwing objects at officers and wielding scissors. She was then taken to a room where unruly passengers are held and officers claimed she became more aggressive and injured one of the officers. She was handcuffed and forced to the ground before she stopped breathing. Paramedics were called to the scene but she died at the hospital she was taken to.

The prosecutor said in the trial in Istanbul yesterday that the officers used disproportionate force while restraining Brown and caused the 48-year-old woman's death. The doctor who faces jail time is accused of writing a medical report regarding Brown's death without examining her corpse.