In Turkey, the son of Somalia’s president has been found guilty in connection with the death of a motorcycle courier.
Although initially facing a potential six-year prison term, Mohammed Hassan Sheikh Mohamud had his two-and-a-half-year sentence commuted to a fine of 27,300 Turkish lira ($900) by an Istanbul court on Tuesday.
The charges stemmed from a November 30 incident where a diplomatic car driven by Mohamud struck courier Yunus Emre Gocer.
Despite an arrest warrant being issued and Mohamud leaving Turkey on December 2, he returned last week to testify.
His driver’s licence was also revoked for six months. Mohamud, denying negligence, claimed the crash was unavoidable, while police reports indicated the courier did not violate traffic rules and placed primary fault on the car driver. Gocer’s father plans to appeal the decision to commute the sentence.
Prison sentences are occasionally converted to fines in Turkey’s judicial system.
Gocer’s death had threatened to sour friendly relations between Turkey and Somalia
