An 8-year-old male student at the IDDEF Qur’an course affiliated with the Ismailaga Community Religious Sect was subjected to qualified sexual abuse. Court sentenced the course instructor to 39 years in prison
A court decision was announced yesterday for a Qur’an course teacher operating under the Federation of Associations of “Valuing Human Beings” (IDDEF) branch in the Sultangazi district of Istanbul on a child abuse case from 2014. A verdict was issued in the case heard in the Heavy Penal Court.
According to Dinçer Gökçe from Artı Gerçek, N.S., who was born in 2006, was subjected to sexual abuse by Gökhan Altun (34), who taught Qur’an in the sect’s religious classes, a few days after he started the course in September 2014. N.S., who told his mother what happened eight years after the incident, complained after the psychiatrist he went to reported it to the police.
When the police contacted IDDEF, the security forces were informed that “We have cut our relationship with the teacher because this person was abusing children.” The police, who learned that Altun worked at the Çekmeköy Cemeteries Directorate, took him into custody. Altun was arrested on March 31.
Altun, who said in his testimony in court that he was tortured at the police station, said, “I certainly did not confess to my crime, I did not make such a statement.”
After the trial, the court sentenced Altun to 30 years in prison, which is the upper limit, for the crime of qualified sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12. Altun was also sentenced to 9 years in prison for depriving a person of his liberty. The defendants’ lawyers appealed the decision to the Court of Appeal.
Meanwhile, according to IDDEF’s website, the foundation of the federation was formed in 2004 at the suggestion of Mahmut Ustaosmanoğlu, the leader of the Ismailaga Brotherhood Religious Sect, who died last year. In 2009, the federation was established with the coming together of 45 associations. IDDEF, which operates in 55 countries, obtained the status of ‘Association working for the benefit of the public’ on November 29, 2022 with the decision of President Erdoğan.
MB Sendika.org News