The Turkish Prosecutor in charge of the inquiry into the death of a boy who was killed during anti-government protests in 2013 has been taken hostage by a banned Turkish revolutionary group.
The captors have posted images of abducted prosecutor Selim Kiraz with a gun at his head in an Istanbul courthouse.
According to Turkish new agencies, Turkish special forces have stormed the court building and, according to the city police chief, they were engaged in negotiations with the hostage takers.
Live TV coverage of the incident is banned by the government, which cited security reasons.
In June 2013, 14-year-old Berkin Elvan was struck on the head by a police tear gas canister.
Elvan was reportedly going to buy bread in Istanbul during the mass demonstrations. He was hospitalized following the attack and died after nine months in a coma.
The members of the police force responsible for the incident have neither been publicly identified nor prosecuted.
The Turkish president stoked the controversy after he linked the boy to terrorist organizations, alleging he had been carrying a slingshot.
The prosecutor has been reportedly taken hostage by members of the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front at Caglayan courthouse.
A website linked to the group has issued a number of demands, which include the immediate confession of the officer responsible for the death and an end to the prosecution of other detainees involved in the protests. They have given the authorities three hours to respond to their demands.
