Constitutional Court finds rights violation in deadly 2004 train derailment

Click to read the article in Turkish

The Constitutional Court has ruled that the 2004 train derailment in Pamukova, Sakarya, caused the violation of right to life and the legal process concerning the incident was "protracted."

Issuing its verdict about an individual application regarding the incident, the court unanimously ruled that the applicant should be paid 50,000 lira (~3,700 US dollars) in compensation.

The applicant, Serap Sivri, lost her spouse, the brother of his spouse and two nephews in the incident.

She filed an individual application with the top court in February 2019, stating that the legal process about the incident had not been carried out at a reasonable speed and those responsible for the incident had not been punished.

The case concerning the derailment was dropped due to the statute of limitations, which was caused by "protraction," the court stated.

Because of the lack of a trial at reasonable speed, the right to life was violated on procedural grounds, the court concluded.

Because the case was dropped, the top court verdict will not be sent to a penal court for a retrial.

What happened?

A train on the "accelerated train line" between İstanbul and the capital city of Ankara derailed on July 22, 2014 near the Pamukova district of the northwestern Sakarya province.

Out of 230 passengers, 41 lost their lives and 89 were injured in the incident.

The government was criticized for the "accelerated train" project, which was based on the modification of existing trains and railways.

A scientific committee established to examine the incident found that the speed of the train at the entrance of the turn where it derailed was 132 kilometers per hour, whereas the speed limit for that turn was 80 kilometers per hour.

The expert report also noted that there were no warning signs for train drivers at the place where the train derailed.

The 5 hours and 15 minutes of travel time set for the Ankara-İstanbul service was too short and the infrastructure of the "accelerated train service" was not appropriate, the committee also concluded.

Only the two drivers and the chief conductor were put on trial. The Sakarya 2nd Heavy Penal Court sentenced first driver Fikret Karabulut to 2 years and 6 months in prison to pay 1,000 lira of monetary fine and second driver Recep Sönmez to 1 year and 3 months in prison and to pay 733 lira of monetary fine. Chief Conductor Köksal Coşkun was acquitted.

Then Minister of Transport Binali Yıldırım did not grant permission to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office to investigate the then head of the Turkish State Railways (TCDD), Süleyman Karaman.

Permission was not granted for the investigation of those who were responsible for the rails, whom the experts committee found to be at fault as well.

In December 2019, the 12th Chamber of the Court of Cassation, the country's top appeals court, ruled that the criminal cases against the defendants should be dropped due to the statute of limitations. (HA/VK)