23/07/2026 | Writer: Kaos GL
The Court of Cassation overturned the life sentence imposed on the police officer who killed Hande Buse Şeker. The Court indicated that the defendant should be convicted of aggravated intentional killing, paving the way for an aggravated life sentence.
In the case concerning the 2019 murder of trans woman Hande Buse Şeker in Izmir, the Turkish Court of Cassation has overturned the verdict, finding the life sentence imposed on police officer Volkan Hicret insufficient. The Court ruled that the act should have been assessed not as "intentional killing" but as "aggravated intentional killing", indicating that the defendant should have been sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment.
The Court of Cassation held that the lower courts had misclassified the offences by failing to consider that the killing was committed "to facilitate the commission of another crime, conceal evidence, and avoid apprehension", as well as the attempted commission of that offence. It found that imposing a lesser sentence on the defendant was contrary to the law.
During the trial, the Izmir 4th High Criminal Court sentenced police officer Volkan Hicret to life imprisonment. However, the Izmir Regional Court of Justice rejected requests to impose an aggravated life sentence.
Lower court to reconsider the case
Speaking to KaosGL.org, one of the lawyers representing the case, Kerem Dikmen, said that the murder of Hande Buse Şeker had a profound impact on the LGBTI+ movement:
"The Hande Buse Şeker case was a murder that shocked the LGBTI+ movement. As we saw from the security camera footage, it was a killing involving intense violence."
Recalling that the trial court had convicted the defendant of intentional killing, Dikmen said:
"Our requests for an aggravated life sentence were not accepted during the proceedings. The Court of Cassation has now accepted that request."
Dikmen explained that their primary argument had been that the defendant should be convicted of killing by torture, but that the Court of Cassation evaluated the case under a different aggravating circumstance:
"Our main argument was that the defendant should be prosecuted for killing by torture. The Court of Cassation instead considered it as a killing committed to facilitate another crime. It appears that the Court has accepted our request for an aggravated life sentence. The case will now be sent back to the lower court, which will issue a new judgment."
What happened?
Hande Buse Şeker was a trans woman living in Izmir who earned her living through sex work. On January 9, 2019, while off duty, police officer Volkan Hicret used his service weapon to kill Şeker at her home in Alsancak. Hicret killed Şeker, robbed her, sexually assaulted her, and injured her friend, who was also in the house.
After the Izmir 4th High Criminal Court delivered its first ruling on November 26, 2020, the prosecutor appealed the decision, arguing that the defendant should have been convicted not of "intentional killing" but of "intentional killing with monstrous intent." In the appeal submitted to the Regional Court of Justice, the prosecutor argued that the killing had been "excessive and disproportionate" and emphasized that after the murder, Hicret remained at the scene and sexually assaulted both Şeker and her friend.
The prosecution maintained that convicting the defendant only of intentional killing was contrary to procedural and substantive law and requested that he be convicted of intentional killing with monstrous intent. However, the Izmir Regional Court of Justice rejected the request for an aggravated life sentence.
Tags: human rights, women, media, life, labour, trans, lgbti
