Turkish prosecutors have drafted an indictment against a son of Somali President Hasan Sheikh Mohamud seeking a prison sentence of up to six years due to his involvement in a deadly accident in İstanbul in November, the T24 news website reported.
The indictment from the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office is seeking a prison sentence of between two and six years for son Mohamed Hassan Sheik Mohamud on charges of “negligent manslaughter.”
The indictment accuses the younger Mohamud of causing the death of 38-year-old motorcycle courier Yunus Emre Göçer based on forensic reports and video footage of the accident.
Göçer was critically injured on November 30 when he was struck from behind on a busy highway in İstanbul by Mohamud, who was driving a vehicle registered to the Somali Consulate in the Fatih district. He succumbed to his injuries in a hospital on December 6.
Son Mohamud was taken into police custody following the accident but was released after giving a statement, which received significant backlash, following which a travel ban was imposed on him days after the collision.
However, it turned out that Mohamed Hassan Sheik Mohamud had already fled Turkey on Dec. 2.
President Mohamud told The Associated Press in his first comments about the accident earlier this month that his son didn’t flee Turkey following the accident and that he has advised him to go back and present himself to a court.
“It was an accident. He did not run away, and he hired a lawyer for this purpose,” the president was quoted as saying by AP. “And there was no arrest warrant. … So, he has a business and he came out of the country.”
He said he is urging his son to go back and present himself to the court but adds that he’s an adult and will make the final decision himself.
A recent report issued by Turkey’s Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK), based on video footage of the accident, found son Mohamud to be primarily at fault in the accident because he did not brake when necessary or maintain a safe distance when changing lanes, which resulted in a collision with Göçer’s motorcycle.
An initial report drafted by police officers who arrived at the scene of the crash blamed Göçer for the accident.