‘Mazlum was not even at the scene of incident, his prison sentence is political’

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Mazlum İ. was arrested at the age of 14 on the grounds that he allegedly killed Yasin Börü, Ahmet Dakak, Hasan Gökguz and Riyat Güneş and wounded Yusuf Er during the Kobanî incidents on October 6-8, 2014. İ. was sentenced to 124 years, 8 months in prison.

His lawyer Mahsuni Karaman has released a written statement about the judicial process of his client Mazlum İ.

Karaman has recalled that Mazlum İ. was detained a day later over the murders that were committed in Bağlar district in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeastern province of Diyarbakır on October 7, 2014.

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124 years, 8 months in prison

Lawyer Mahsuni Karaman has underlined that when the incidents happened, Mazlum İ. was not even in central Diyarbakır:

"Mazlum indicated that 'on October 7, 2014, he and his father were at a wedding ceremony in a village in Kulp district, playing music, and that he could not be the perpetrator of the murders.' He reiterated this statement at the other stages of the judicial process as well.

"However, no inquiry was made about this issue. He, along with over 20 others, was put on trial for participating in the related murders and by the ruling of the Ankara 2nd High Criminal Court on April 24, 2017, has was sentenced to 124 years, 8 months in prison on charges of "disrupting the unity of the state and the integrity of the country", "killing four people with monstrous feelings and by tormenting", "attempting to kill one person" and "propagandizing for a terrorist organization".

Court of Cassation overturned the ruling

As recalled by Karaman, the 16th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation, on February 3, 2020, upheld the local court ruling regarding "the killing of three people, the attempted killing of one person, terror propaganda and disrupting the unity of the state and the integrity of the country." The high court overturned the ruling regarding the killing of Yasin Börü.

Lawyer Karaman has said:

We presented visual evidence from the wedding, showing that my client Mazlum İ. was not in Diyarbakır city center on the day and hour of the murder that he allegedly committed (evening hours, October 7, 2014) and he was at the wedding of a person named Muhsin Bayram in Keçiveren Hamlet in Demirli Village in Kulp District, which is some 140 kilometers away from Diyarbakır. Accordingly, we requested that the Ankara 2nd High Criminal Court hold a retrial on charges of 'killing of three people, the attempted killing of one person, terror propaganda and disrupting the unity of the state and the integrity of the country.'

According to lawyer Karaman, the same footage from the wedding was also added to the file where the Court of Cassation gave a ruling of reversal and a retrial ensued (over the killing of Yasin Börü).

Sharing detailed information about the evidence obtained by the court in a year, Karaman has said: "Upon the obtained evidence, at the hearing on May 28, 2021, the Public Prosecutor demanded the acquittal of Mazlum with a 4-page justified opinion as to the accusations.

"At the hearing on June 25, 2021, the Public Prosecutor changed the opinion from 27 days ago and demanded the penalization of Mazlum even though no development that would require such a change and would affect the legal situation of Mazlum had occurred in those 27 days."

On the same day, according to lawyer Mahsuni Karaman, the court board accepted the request for a retrial for the killing of three people and ruled that the execution of Mazlum İ. should be halted.

Again, on the same day, upon the objection of the prosecutor that expressed an opinion in favor of acquittal, the court board ruled that the decision to hold a retrial and halt the execution should be quashed.

As recalled by lawyer Karaman, on September 29, 2021, the court, which ruled for a retrial and halted the execution of Mazlum, ruled that Mazlum should be penalized on charge of "killing Yasin Börü".

Life sentence despite all evidence

Drawing attention to the contradictions in the judicial process, lawyer Mahsuni Karaman has concluded his remarks in following words:

"These trials publicly known as 'October 6-8 incidents', 'Kobanî incidents', 'Yasin Börü' and used as a tool of political exploitation marked the near political history and the judicial practice in the last 6-7 years.

"The October 6-8 incidents and the murders in this file have been handled as the essential elements of the indictment seeking the closure of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP); a closure case was filed against the HDP before the Constitutional Court on the grounds that the party 'became the focal point of violence' with this murder and incidents at the center.

"Mazlum İ. was at a wedding in a hamlet some 140 kilometers away from the scene of the incident in Diyarbakır's Kulp at the moment of murder. The groom of the wedding and the taxi driver who said he took Mazlum İ. to the wedding gave statements confirming this information. Moreover, it was detected that Mazlum's phone gave signals between Kulp and Dicle.

"In response to this evidence added to the file, the court first gave a ruling of retrial and the suspension of execution; at the hearing next day, it changed its opinion upon the statement of İ.Ö., who bore witness against Mazlum İ., and he was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment. However, this ruling, like the cases coming after this, is political." (RT/SD)