Hakan Aysal walked free from prison after serving six years of an aggravated life sentence for the 2018 death of his pregnant wife.
Aysal, 45, was released while Turkey’s Supreme Court Criminal General Assembly reviews an appeal. The Times of India reported the decision. He was convicted in October 2022. The court linked him to the June 2018 death of his 32-year-old wife, Semra Aysal, at the Butterfly Valley tourist destination near Muğla in southwestern Turkey.
Prosecutors told the court that Aysal took out a $25,000 accident insurance policy. He made himself the sole beneficiary and collected the funds after her death.
Investigators alleged he pushed his wife off a 1,000-foot cliff after they took selfies together.
Aysal maintained his innocence. He claimed she disappeared after he turned his back for a second. His lawyers and Supreme Court Chief Prosecutor Ömer Taş argued that evidence was lacking, The New York Post reported.
“My client’s six years of unjust imprisonment has come to an end,” Aysal’s lawyer said. He spent about four years of that time in solitary confinement.
A witness recorded video footage shortly before the incident. Recep Sahin told police that Aysal appeared unusually calm after his wife fell.
“We even joked, ‘Either this man will throw the woman off” or the woman will throw the man,
Sahin told police, according to The Times of India. He added that there was no interaction between them.
The release order drew sharp criticism from women’s rights organizations and political groups.
“The decision is extremely worrying,” lawyer Hediye Gökçe Baykal said to Cumhuriyet. She said the concern applies not only for this case, but also regarding the evaluation of evidence in femicide cases and debates surrounding impunity.
The women’s wing of the New Party issued a statement. “The Supreme Court has issued a release order for Hakan Aysal,” the group said.
Aysal was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment for being responsible for the death of his wife, Semra Aysal, in Muğla.
“We ask: How will accountability be provided for the deaths of Semra and her unborn baby?” the group questioned.