Background
Metin Lokumcu was a 54-year-old retired teacher living in Hopa, in Artvin province. On 31 May 2011, ahead of an election rally by the then prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Hopa, groups gathered to protest hydroelectric power plant (HES) projects in the region.
What happened
Police intervened against the protesters with tear gas and water cannon. Lokumcu fell ill, was taken to hospital and died the same day. Protests followed in Hopa and elsewhere in the country.
The cause of death became the central dispute. The Trabzon branch of the Forensic Medicine Institute's autopsy report of 20 June 2011 attributed it to heart and lung disease. The scientific research board of the Turkish Medical Association argued instead that he had not died of a pre-existing illness and that gas exposure played a role.
Investigation and legal proceedings
The investigation lasted years, and an indictment was drawn up only in September 2020, about nine years after the event. Thirteen police officers, including the then provincial police chief, were charged with causing death by negligence. The case was moved to Trabzon for security reasons; on 28 June 2021 the Trabzon 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance declared itself not competent, and the file went to the Trabzon 2nd Heavy Penal Court because the facts might amount to causing death through intentional injury.
The prosecution asked for acquittal. At the 14th hearing, on 6 September 2024, the court acquitted all 13 officers, stating that the intervention was proportionate and that no causal link between the defendants' actions and the death had been established. The family's lawyers' request for a new site inspection was rejected.
The length of the proceedings was repeatedly criticised by Lokumcu's family and lawyers. The prosecution argued that the death was caused by a heart attack and not by gas; the family and lawyers pointed to reports treating gas exposure as the cause.
The trial was moved to Trabzon the day before it was due to open in Hopa, and the first hearing took place on 21 April 2021. The first hearing before the heavy penal court was held on 20 December 2021; if the charge had been upheld, the sentence would have been eight to twelve years.
Where it stands today
The family's lawyers protested the verdict and the case moved to the appeal stage. Lokumcu's death remains a frequently cited example in debates on proportionate use of force at protests and on police accountability, and he is remembered in Hopa each year on 31 May.