Turkish policeman sentenced to plant trees for teargas attack on lady in red

A Turkish policeman who teargassed a woman in a red dress two years ago was found guilty on Wednesday of misconduct and ordered by a court to plant 600 trees.



The images of the "lady in red", her hair billowing upwards as officer Fatih Zengin sprayed teargas in her face, later became a symbol of anti-government 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.