The first hearing in the case concerning the deaths of teacher Ayla Kara and 9 students in an armed attack carried out by student İsa Aras Mersinli at Ayser Çalık Secondary School in Kahramanmaraş on April 15 began at the Kahramanmaraş 3rd High Criminal Court.
The attacker’s father, Uğur Mersinli, was charged with “killing with eventual intent” and “violating Law No. 6136,” while his mother, Peyman Pınar Mersinli, was charged with “causing death and injury through conscious negligence.” The defendants are expected to testify from prison via SEGBİS. Prosecutors sought 10 life sentences and up to 30 years in prison for Uğur Mersinli, and up to 22.5 years in prison for Peyman Pınar Mersinli.
Ayla Kara’s lawyer, Özcan Kara, cited the presence of pistols with 7 loaded magazines and 2 shotguns in the home, as well as allowing the child to shoot at a firing range, among the family’s failings. The hearing is being held behind closed doors to the press due to the courtroom’s inadequate physical capacity.
Why it matters
The case raises the question of how the parents’ criminal liability should be assessed regarding the keeping of firearms in the home and the child’s access to them. The different charges brought against the mother and father show that prosecutors established the link between the degree of fault and the resulting deaths and injuries using separate legal criteria. How the court assesses the pistols with loaded magazines, the shotguns and the firing-range experience in terms of foreseeable risk constitutes one of the case’s central legal issues. The severity of the requested sentences highlights the direct consequences of the ruling for the relatives of those who lost their lives. Meanwhile, closing the hearing to the press due to inadequate physical capacity limits the public’s ability to follow the proceedings directly, leaving open the question of how transparency will be ensured throughout the process.