38-year-old Cumali Ata from Steenwijk, convicted of manslaughter, has been arrested in Turkey. The national prosecutor’s office of the Public Prosecution Service reported this on Wednesday. Ata was on the National Investigation List of the Netherlands for a long time after he was convicted in absentia for the manslaughter of his niece Denise Celik. Ata is serving his 10-year prison sentence in Turkey.
April 2022
Ata killed his 18-year-old niece in a hotel in Enschede in 2004.
In 2016, the Netherlands made a request to Turkey to take over the sentence imposed. At the end of last week it became clear that the man was arrested in Turkey on April 13, 2022 and has been serving his sentence ever since.
Turkey
Ata fled to Germany after the murder, from where he flew to Turkey. The Almelo court acquitted him in 2007. But on appeal, after four court hearings, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for manslaughter by the Arnhem Court of Appeal. The Netherlands then placed him on the national wanted list.
The investigation into the whereabouts of the convict was done by FastNL, the special police team that traces fugitives.
Raid
In addition to the 10-year sentence, A. must also serve a six-month suspended prison sentence imposed on him. This conditional part is part of an 18-month prison sentence imposed on him by the Zwolle-Lelystad court in 2003 for a robbery of a home and the assault and robbery of the resident. The suspended sentence was linked to a probationary period of two years, during which A. was not allowed to commit a criminal offense.
The police have now informed Denise Celik’s mother about Ata’s arrest.
Also see:
Police search homes in search of fugitive murderer
Murderer off wanted list, not arrested
Cumali Ata on National Search List
