Yoosef Bagherian Gharehtapeh, the defendant in the trial at the Istanbul 2nd Heavy Penal Court, connected via Audio and Video Information System (SEGBIS) as he is currently detained. The victim, Yaşar Yanıkyürek’s family and the lawyers of both sides were present at the hearing. The defendant Gharehtapeh, who is a graduate student and worked as an accountant in his country, stated that he did not enter Turkey illegally.
Gharehtapeh claimed that he could not remember the incident because he used 30 different memory drugs, and all his medications were taken by the police after the incident, which is why he did not remember anything. He stated that he watched the footage of the incident but still could not recall anything. Gharehtapeh also mentioned that he had just arrived in Turkey and was not working at the time. He explained that he had duct tape on him because the handle of his bag was broken, and he got in the taxi just to wander around. He also mentioned that he was very scared after the incident and even wanted to commit suicide.
During the trial, Yanıkyürek’s son stated that the defendant committed a premeditated and heinous murder, and it is not possible for him to not remember it. He demanded that the defendant be punished most severely. In the initial hearing, the prosecutor requested a life sentence with aggravated punishment for the defendant based on the charges of “armed robbery” and “premeditated murder in order to conceal a crime, destroy evidence, or facilitate its commission or to avoid capture” and also a prison sentence of 10 to 15 years.
When asked to present his defense against the prosecutor’s allegation, defendant Gharehtapeh claimed that he did not act with the intention of killing, he was sad, and he could not recall anything. In his final words, the defendant said, “I have nothing to say.” The court decided to sentence the defendant to life imprisonment with aggravated punishment for “premeditated murder in order to conceal a crime, destroy evidence, or facilitate its commission” and 13 years in prison for the crime of “armed robbery.”
The court justified not applying any reduction in the sentence to the defendant due to his lack of sincere remorse in his behavior. According to the indictment prepared by the Istanbul Public Prosecutor, the incident occurred on April 17 in the Tarabya District, where taxi driver Yaşar Yanıkyürek was thrown from a car with an unidentifiable license plate and the taxi drove away hastily. The police stopped the taxi on Maslak Büyükdere Street and detained the Iranian driver Yoosef Bagherian Gharehtapeh. The indictment states that the defendant Gharehtapeh claimed that he killed the victim due to a disagreement over the taxi fare and then stabbed the victim in order to obtain the victim’s money. The indictment also mentions that the footage from inside the car showed the defendant repeatedly stabbing the victim from the back seat, starting from the right side of the neck, and then moving the victim to the passenger seat after taking over the driver’s seat.
The indictment emphasizes that the defendant carried out his actions according to a premeditated plan, as evidenced by the plastic handcuffs, scissors, and duct tape found in his possession, indicating that the defendant killed the victim for the purpose of robbery. The indictment requested that the defendant Gharehtapeh be sentenced to life imprisonment with aggravated punishment and 10 to 15 years in prison for the charges of “premeditated murder in order to conceal a crime, destroy evidence, or facilitate its commission” and “armed robbery.”
