In the trial concerning the beating to death of journalist Hakan Tosun in the street, the prosecutor, has sought conviction for the defendants of “murder.” The verdict on the defendants is expected to be announced on 22 September

CANAN COŞKUN, ISTANBUL

In the trial of Abdurrahman Murat and Adnan Şahin, accused of “murder” in connection with the beating to death of journalist and video activist Hakan Tosun on the street in İstanbul’s Esenyurt district on 10 October 2025, the prosecutor has presented their final opinion on the case. In the opinion, prepared in line with the charges set out in the indictment, it was stated that there was a causal link between the defendants’ actions and Tosun’s death, and that the defendants’ defenses were aimed at evading criminal liability.

The final hearing was held at the Bakırköy 17th High Criminal Court on 8 July 2026. At that hearing, the presiding judge announced that, should the prosecutor’s final opinion be prepared between sittings, the verdict regarding the defendants would be delivered at the hearing scheduled for 22 September.

In the prosecutor’s final opinion, prepared between sessions, it was stated that, according to CCTV footage, the defendant Abdurrahman Murat attacked Hakan Tosun after he failed to heed his warnings, and that Murat was the first to strike Tosun. In the submission, the prosecutor noted that even if it were accepted that Hakan Tosun had responded with profanity for a moment in the wake of this attack, this did not constitute an insult, but was a reaction to defendant Murat’s unjustified provocation and intervention.

“There is no need for a reduction in sentence due to unjust provocation ”

The prosecutor stated that there had been no exchange of words between the other defendant, Adnan Şahin, and Hakan Tosun, and noted that Şahin had directly attacked Hakan Tosun whilst he was lying on the ground. The prosecutor emphasized that, for this reason, there had been no unjustified action on the part of Hakan Tosun that would warrant a provocation reduction in sentence for the defendants.

The prosecutor noted that an examination of the CCTV footage, alongside the police reports and expert witness reports, had established that the defendant Abdurrahman Murat had struck Tosun multiple times with kicks and punches, and had been observed kicking him whilst pulling his head down. He went on to explain that the defendant Adnan Şahin had also kicked Tosun, grabbed him by the collar, lifted him up and dropped him down forcefully. The prosecutor stated that the defendants’ persistent punching and kicking of Hakan Tosun whilst he was lying on the ground, unable to defend himself, demonstrated their intent to kill.

Recalling that Hakan Tosun had sustained injuries to his head—a vital area—as well as the nature of the injuries, the targeted area of his body, the number of blows, and the fact that death resulted from the injuries, the prosecutor noted that there was a cause-and-effect relationship between the defendants’ actions and the death.

Background of the case

Hakan Tosun set out to visit his family living in Esenyurt, Istanbul on 10 October 2025. When he did not return home, his family reported the situation to the police. Around midnight, two reports were made to the police regarding a person lying on the ground in Esenyurt. An ambulance had taken the person lying on the ground to Başakşehir Çam and Sakura Hospital, but since there was neither identification nor anything else on them, their identity could not be determined. For this reason, hospital police recorded the person’s arrival at the hospital around 2:50 a.m. as a “criminal incident”—a person who would later be identified as Hakan Tosun. Tosun, who had bruises on his eyes and neck, was being kept in intensive care in an unconscious state.

While all this was happening, his family and relatives had begun asking on social media where Tosun was. His family learned around 4:00 a.m. via a police call that Tosun was in the hospital, but when they arrived, they could not find him because he had not been registered. His sister, Öznur Tosun, filed a missing person report, after which the police took his fingerprints and located Hakan that way.

On 11 October 2025, the police summoned the suspects involved in the attack on Hakan Tosun to the station via phone. Abdurrahman Murat and Adnan Şahin were sent to pre-trial detention on charges of “intentional assault.” One day later, Hakan Tosun lost his life after a battle for survival in the intensive care unit.

Shortly before Tosun’s death, footage from security cameras showing the attackers were released. According to the footage, there were three people in the group that attacked Tosun. The third person was the motorcyclist who had transported the individuals jailed for attacking Tosun. The motorcyclist, Yusuf Özakdağ was released after giving a statement as a witness.

After the footage was published in the media, it emerged that relatives of the suspects had taken the security camera from the shop that had viewed the location where Tosun was left, and had told the police that they could come and retrieve it if asked.

Hakan Tosun’s funeral took place on 17 October 2025. On the same day, the Istanbul Police Department issued an official statement regarding the events that occurred during the investigation. The statement claimed that the security camera at a nearby business was not recording. An examination was conducted on 300 hours of footage, and footage from 12 different cameras was added to the investigation file. The statement also noted that an investigation had been launched regarding the suspect’s relatives’ seizure of the business’s footage, and that the business owner and two of the suspect’s relatives had been detained and released under judicial supervision.

Hakan Tosun’s lawyers emphasized in their first press statement on 23 October 2025 that the evidence had been collected carelessly, noting that Tosun’s earring was found at the scene a week later. At that time, Tosun’s ID and wallet were missing. His bag had first appeared at the hospital and was later officially recorded in a report at the Mevlana Police Station on 15 October.

Tosun’s family filed a criminal complaint against Özakdağ on 6 March 2026. The petition stated that instead of trying to calm the situation, Özakdağ had watched what was being done to Tosun; therefore, it requested that a public prosecution be initiated against him for the crime of “willful murder.” To fully uncover the incident and determine whether the assailants were in contact with one another or with others, the family requested that HTS records from the time of the incident, as well as before and after, be obtained for all suspects, and that their phones be seized and examined.

The Bakırköy Chief Prosecutor’s Office completed the investigation four days after the Tosun family filed their complaint and prepared the indictment on 10 March. The indictment was based on the preliminary report prepared by the Büyükçekmece Chief Prosecutor’s Office. The indictment sought life imprisonment for Abdurrahman Murat and Adnan Şahin on charges of “willful murder.”

The preliminary report cited as the basis for the indictment suggested that the locations, nature, and extent of the injuries on Tosun’s body could have resulted from a blow to his face and his subsequent fall to the ground. In the preliminary report, which argued that the suspects’ actions were not intended to kill, Tosun was also charged. To support the suspects’ claim that Tosun was intoxicated, the prosecution had sought statements from seven people who were on the same metrobus as Tosun.

The indictment stated that because the suspects were standing very close to each other at the scene, it was not entirely clear who struck whom. Abdurrahman Murat, who claimed he did not strike Tosun, stated that he threw one punch to push him away because Tosun was advancing toward him, while Adnan Şahin claimed he kicked Tosun with his foot to check on him while he was lying on the ground.

The first hearing was held on 6 May 2026. Relatives of Hakan Tosun and journalists who had come to follow the proceedings were subjected to a police intervention involving shields inside the courthouse. During the hearing, passengers on the metrobus Tosun had boarded whilst traveling to Esenyurt, residents of the neighborhood where he was killed, and a third person said to have been involved in the incident were heard as witnesses. It was notable that, whilst giving evidence, a local witness requested state protection for her child out of fear. The prosecutor at the hearing requested that HTS records relating to the witnesses and defendants be included in the case file, and that an investigation be conducted into Yusuf Özakdağ—identified as the third suspect—and that he be questioned in connection with the incident. The court ruled that the HTS records should be included in the case file.

The second hearing was held on 8 July 2026. At this hearing, the defendants and their lawyers claimed that Hakan Tosun had been struck on the head during an altercation on the metrobus he had boarded whilst traveling to Esenyurt.