A Turkish prosecutor probing the politically sensitive death of an anti-government protester was taken hostage Tuesday by an armed group at an Istanbul courthouse, the Dogan news agency reported.
Mehmet Selim Kiraz was investigating the killing of Berkin Elvan, who died in March last year after spending 269 days in a coma due to injuries inflicted by police in the mass protests of early summer 2013.
Gunfire was heard at the courthouse, Dogan said. Some reports linked the hostage-taking to a radical leftist group.