The sentence for the brutal murder of 15-year-old Turkish boy Mattia Ahmet Minguzzi, who died after being stabbed and brutally beaten last January by two minors in the Kadıköy district on the Asian side of Istanbul, was announced on Tuesday, reopening the debate on tougher sentencing for minors who commit particularly serious crimes.
As reported by the Turkish news agency DHA, two of the defendants were sentenced to the maximum penalty of 24 years in prison for the crime of ‘deliberate murder of a minor’. Prior to the trial, Mattia’s family reported harassment and threats from the main defendants’ entourage, and Mattia’s own grave was vandalised.
The crime took place on 24 January, when Minguzzi – son of Italian chef Andrea Minguzzi and Turkish cellist Yasemin Akıncılar – got into an argument with a group of minors on bicycle. After separating once several witnesses intervened, Mattia went with friends to a flea market in Kadıköy to buy equipment for his skateboard.
There, according to the prosecution, he again came across two 15-year-old minors, B.B. and U.B., who attacked him. According to the prosecution, B.B. – who was allegedly involved in the initial argument – pushed and stabbed him several times, while U.B. kicked him several times when Mattia was already on the ground. The teenager was hospitalised and remained in intensive care for 15 days, until he finally died on 9 February from internal injuries sustained after the assault.
One of the defendants in the crime: “I just want to go home with my parents”
During the hearing, held today at 10:30 Turkish time (9:30 CET) at the Second Anatolian Juvenile Criminal Court, the four defendants appeared via video-conference using the SEGBİS system. Also present in the courtroom were the victim’s parents, Andrea and Yasemin Minguzzi, as well as her aunt Aylin Akıncılar İyiyazıcıoğlu; hundreds of citizens were also present in support of the family, gathering in front of the court with banners and shouts of “We want an exemplary sentence“. Before entering the courtroom, the family’s lawyer chatted with several of them.
Before the sentence was pronounced, the court asked the defendants to say their last words. “I’m very sorry for everything I did, I’m very sorry”, said B.B.; “I’m very sorry too”, added U.B. The other two defendants insisted on their innocence and that they were only present when the assault occurred: “I just want to go home with my parents“, said one of them repeatedly, speaking via video link from the detention centre.
Forensic reports confirmed that Mattia MInguzzi died as a result of injuries to internal organs caused by multiple stab wounds, including one through the chest. Finally, the court concluded that B.B. and U.B. were guilty of the intentional murder of a minor, imposing on them the maximum possible sentence under the Turkish Penal Code: 24 years in prison; the other two defendants, M.A.D. and A.Ö., who were accused of collaboration in the crime, were acquitted.
During a break in the trial, Yasemin Minguzzi met with hundreds of people waiting outside the courthouse and demanding justice for the victim, in an emotional moment in which the child’s mother could not hold back her tears as the crowd chanted “You are never alone”. The murder of Mattia Ahmet Minguzzi has sparked an intense social and political debate in Turkey about the need to toughen penalties for crimes committed by minors, especially in the most serious cases of violence or sexual assault.
VOTE
EDITORIAL TEAM
🧿 About us
.
Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
…
📣 Your ADVERTISING on Hispanatolia
.
🤗 HELP US WITH A DONATION:
💗 Paypal
