‘Man with machete’ fined 9,000 liras for injuring woman

An Istanbul court has fined the notorious “man with a machete” 9,000 Turkish Liras, in a case in which he attempted to injure a woman.

Sabri Çelebi, the owner of a shop in a Taksim Square, sparked outrage after he attacked Gezi protesters who were running from the police with a machete on July 6, 2013.

Çelebi has been fined on charges of “deliberately injuring a person” in a case that was opened after he hit a woman, identified as E.Y., with the edge of a machete on her back.

Istanbul’s 27th Court of Peace first imposed a 180-day judicial fine, which took into account the crime, manner it was committed, location, its timing and casualties. Then the court increased the fine to 270 days after concluding the machete was a “weapon.” However, Çelebi’s fine was reduced to 225 days after he pleaded guilty to his crimes.

In accordance with Çelebi’s financial conditions, the court set a fine of 40 liras per day, which comes to a total of 9,000 liras for the 225-day judicial fine.

Çelebi is expected to pay the fine in four installments, and if unable to pay, he will be sent to prison, the court also said.

Following the incident, Çelebi immediately boarded a flight to Morocco on July 10, after which a court issued an arrest warrant for him. Çelebi was then released by the court after being briefly detained following his return to Turkey.

Çelebi, along with three other suspects, also face between nine years and nine months up to 27 years in prison in another case on charges of deliberately injuring people and resisting public officers. The trial is being heard by Istanbul’s 53rd Court of First Instance.