A court in Turkey on Monday, January 13 handed a sentence of 16 years and 8 months to Kıvanç Ağaoğlu who murdered a fellow soldier of Armenian descent, Sevag Şahin Balıkçı, on April 24, 2011, Agos reports.

April 24 is the Armenian Genocide remembrance day throughout the world.

Ağaoğlu was first sentenced to 4 years and 5 months in his first trial in the military court in 2013, on charges of “involuntary manslaughter” in 2013. The judge called it an “accident.”

But the Balıkçı family appealed the case, based on the testimony of their son’s fiancée who stated that Sevag was subjected to psychological pressure at the military compound.

After the failed coup attempt July 2016, however, military courts were suspended in Turkey and the case was sent to the Kozluk Criminal Court of First Instance of Batman where the retrial started on February 8, 2018.

Ağaoğlu was on Monday sentenced to 16 years and 8 months in prison on charges of “voluntary manslaughter with eventual intent.” He was arrested immediately after the verdict was announced.