Turkish judicial authorities have released three men involved in the killing of a man who had allegedly attempted to abduct two children in İstanbul’s Maltepe district last week, according to a report by the Hürriyet Daily News on Tuesday.
An angry mob attacked the man on July 26, severely battering him. The man subsequently died of his injuries.
The İstanbul Anatolia Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation into the incident. Three people were detained in connection with the mob killing of the man. The prosecutor released one of the three, while a court ruled for the release of the remaining two on probation.
According to eyewitness accounts, the suspect had approached the children playing in front of their father’s shop and attempted to kidnap them. The children’s mother started to scream when she realized the man’s intent. Some 250 people gathered around the man and attacked him. Police intervened and took the wounded man to a hospital, where he reportedly refused any treatment. The officers then took him to a police station for interrogation. The police called an ambulance to the police station when the man felt unwell. He died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.
