Criminal complaint against intelligence, security officers over killing of HDP’s Deniz Poyraz

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A criminal complaint has been filed against the law enforcement and National Intelligence Organization (MİT) officers over their responsibility in the attack targeting the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) İzmir office on June17, 2021 and claimed the life of Deniz Poyraz.

Submitting their petition to the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, lawyers representing the deceased woman have noted that "no investigation has been launched against the security or intelligence officers seen to be responsible, neglectful, negligent or wilful in the planned, organized attack that could trigger a civil conflict and in what happened afterwards."

Lawyers have requested that "the officials and officiers who fell short of taking security measures be identified." They have said:

"The law enforcement and intelligence officers, who are obligated to prevent the massacre, did not fulfill their duties stemming from the Constitution and laws; they did not exercise the legal powers or used the technical means that they were provided with. The measures that had to be taken to prevent the related danger or attack reasonably and as part of the related powers and duties were not taken even on a minimum level."

Referring to the "several official and plain clothes police officers assigned by the İzmir Security Directorate a duty in front of the HDP İzmir provincial organization building 24/7," the petition of the lawyers has stressed that "in spite of this, it is understood that these forces were on duty not to protect the HDP provincial building or HDP people or to prevent any potential attacks on them; but, on the contrary, they were apparently on duty to collect intelligence on who enters/leaves the HDP building and the HDP people and to control the HDP's works."

The lawyers have noted that "for this reason, no provocative action or event in front of the HDP has been prevented by law enforcement."

They have also criticized the fact that "the security and intelligence units, under these extraordinary circumstances, did not even take the ordinary measures and did not do preventive surveillance and detention." They have said, "It was as if an attack and an act of killing was committed under the surveillance and control of the law enforcement."

'They didn't intervene to catch him'

The petition of the lawyers has read:

"The law enforcement did not take any steps to protect the right to life of Deniz Poyraz, who was in the provincial building. Though there were official and plain clothes police officers in front of the provincial building before the attack happened, the murderer just walked in.

"Even though the assailant was known by the law enforcement to be inside the HDP building before the gunshots were heard, they did not make any intervention to catch him."

Referring to the security departments in the vicinity of the HDP İzmir office, the lawyers have criticized that it took 30 to 40 minutes for the law enforcement "who were some 3-4 minutes away from the scene of the incident by car and presumed to intervene in the incident" to arrive.

Recalling the "the team who arrived at the scene of the incident to intervene in the attack did not go up the building, but almost waited for the assailant to finish his job," the lawyers have said that the police "caught the assailant who came to the exterior door of the building in intimate scenes."

Against this background, the petition of the lawyers has underlined that "the actions of the public officials regarding the intelligence and prevention of the incident as well as their inaction at the moment of the incident almost point to an wrongful intention on their part."

Noting that the state did not fulfil its positive or negative obligations to protect right to life and freedom of association, lawyers have said, "Thus, the state has first degree liability in the attack and its consequences."

Accordingly, the lawyers have requested that the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor's Office conduct an effective investigation in line with criteria set by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and identify and try the security forces who had responsibility for the incident. (RT/SD)