A court in Istanbul ruled for a one-year sentence for Selçuk Tengioğlu, who slapped the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chair Özgür Özel last May in a well-publicized incident.
Tengioğlu was charged with “actual bodily harm targeting a person with public duty,” but he was released after sentencing on Monday. The court did not issue a detailed verdict, but offenders with lenient sentences may be released if the court rules they have served sufficient time in pre-trial custody.
Özel and his entourage were leaving a commemoration ceremony at Atatürk Culture Center in Istanbul’s Taksim Square for late lawmaker Sırrı Süreyya Önder, when Tengioğlu, an ex-convict, approached and slapped him. Özel was disoriented but did not suffer from a major injury during the assault.
Tengioğlu has told the court that the assault was not premeditated and he came across Özel while he was attending the commemoration ceremony and slapped him over a past grievance against the opposition leader.
Prosecutors have earlier asked for four and a half years in prison for Tengioğlu and the indictment against him has said that the suspect apparently waited for Özel for about three hours outside the venue of the ceremony, based on security camera footage.
