Judge Shot By Ex-Husband In Istanbul Courthouse, Day-Release Prisoner Stops Further Firing

Last Updated:January 13, 2026, 19:24 IST

Judge Asli Kahraman was seriously injured when her ex-husband, Muhammet Cagatay Kilicaslan, fired at her, hitting her in the groin.

Kilicaslan was about to fire again, but a man who was serving tea – a convict out on day release working at the court – intervened and stopped him.

A judge was shot on Tuesday inside an Istanbul courthouse by her ex-husband, a public prosecutor, but a day-release prisoner stopped him from firing a second shot. The attack occurred in the afternoon at a courthouse on Istanbul’s Asian side, Turkish media reported.

Judge Asli Kahraman was seriously injured when her ex-husband, Muhammet Cagatay Kilicaslan, fired at her, hitting her in the groin, according to Sozcu newspaper.

Kilicaslan was about to fire again, but a man who was serving tea – a convict out on day release working at the court – intervened and stopped him.

The woman judge received first aid at the scene before being taken to hospital, where she was reported to be in stable condition.

Her former husband, Kilicaslan, was arrested and was expected to appear at Istanbul’s main courthouse later on Tuesday, Sozcu reported.

The attack drew condemnation from the women’s rights group We Will Stop Femicides. In a statement on X, the group said: “A female judge was shot with a firearm by her former husband, a prosecutor, in full view of everyone at the Istanbul Kartal Anatolian Courthouse, the very place where perpetrators should be punished."

“Women can be shot with firearms even inside courthouses," the women’s rights group added.

Turkey does not officially record femicide figures, so women’s organisations track them through press reports. Data from We Will Stop Femicides shows that in 2025, 294 women were killed by men, and 297 women were found dead under suspicious circumstances. Of those killed, 35 per cent were killed by their husbands, and 57 per cent were killed with firearms.

Rights groups say suspicious deaths and suicides have risen since Turkey withdrew from the Istanbul Convention in 2021, an international agreement aimed at preventing and prosecuting violence against women.

(With inputs from AFP)

News world Judge Shot By Ex-Husband In Istanbul Courthouse, Day-Release Prisoner Stops Further Firing

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