Turkish policeman sentenced to plant trees for gassing 'lady in red'

In judgment that seemed like deliberate irony, a court in Turkey sentenced the policeman to plant trees for gassing the 'lady in red' who had been protesting the redevelopment of Gezi Park in Istanbul.

A Turkish policeman whose teargassing of a woman in a red dress became a symbol of anti-government protests two years ago was found guilty on Wednesday of misconduct and ordered by a court to plant 600 trees.

A-Turkish-riot-policeman-uses-tear-gas-as-people-protest-against-the-destruction-of-trees-in-a-park-brought-about-by-a-pedestrian-project-in-Taksim-Square-in-central-Istanbul-May-28-2013-Reuters-Osman-Orsal

The image of the "lady in red", her hair billowing upwards as officer Fatih Zengin sprayed teargas in her face, was endlessly shared on social media and replicated as a cartoon on posters, mugs and stickers during the protests.

Zengin's sentence appeared to contain a deliberate irony. The protests, which began as a bid to stop the redevelopment of Gezi Park in central Istanbul, were dismissed by the government at the time as "nothing to do with trees".

The demonstrations spiralled into the worst anti-government unrest for years, spreading to cities around the country.

The Istanbul court handed down a suspended sentence of 20 months in jail, which Zengin will only serve if he repeats the offence in the next five years. He will, however, be responsible for the young trees for six months after planting them.