October 10 Ankara Massacre ‘Crime Against Humanity’

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An indictment has been filed against Erman Ekici, a defendant of the October 10 Ankara Massacre case, for "crimes against humanity." In his last hearing, Ekici was penalized for "leading an armed organization."

On October 10, 2015, hundreds of people from all around Turkey came to the capital city of Ankara. They were going to attend the Labor, Democracy and Peace Meeting to be held at the Ankara Main Train Station Square.

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Young people, women and everyone who wanted to express their demand for peace started gathering at the square when the clock hit 11 a.m.

Slogans were chanted for peace, people performed folk dances. It was at that exact moment when a suicide bomb attack was launched. Slogans, folk songs kept silent, the folk dances of the young were interrupted. 103 people lost their lives, tens of others were wounded.

Request in the first hearing now in indictment

The attack has gone down in the history of Turkey as one of the bloodiest massacres. Its lawsuit started at the Ankara 4th Heavy Penal Court in November 2016. 36 defendants faced prison sentences.

From the very first hearing of the case, the families of the deceased and their attorneys told the court that the crime committed on October 10 was "a crime against humanity." However, the court did not accept it as such.

In the hearing on August 3, 19 arrested defendants were given prison terms ranging from 7,5 years in to life sentences aggravated for 101 times.

It was understood Ekici was not an ordinary criminal

However, in that hearing, another legal detail came up. It was understood that Erman Ekici, one of the arrested defendants, was not an ordinary organization member, but was the carrier of the massacre order. Seeing that, the court board evaluated the offense charged not as "membership of an organization", but as "leadership of an organization".

While Ekici was sentenced to 18 years in prison on charge of "leadership of an armed terrorist organization," he also faced an indictment for "wilful murder", "attempted wilful murder" and "crime against humanity". However, as it became clear that he was an important figure in committing this massacre, a new indictment was requested to be filed against him.

That being the case, a new indictment has been filed with the requests raised by the families and lawyers for three years.

Accordingly, conducting the investigation upon a criminal complaint, Ankara Public Prosecutor Yarcan Mutlu prepared an additional indictment, charging him with "wilful murder of 100 people, including 2 children", "attempted wilful murder of 391 people, including 20 children" and "committing a crime against humanity" as per the Article 77 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).

Doğanoğlu: We submitted all evidence that we have

Senem Doğanoğlu, one of the lawyers of the case, has spoken to bianet about this latest development and underlined that both the families and lawyers have long been struggling to ensure that the defendants of the case are tried for crimes against humanity:

"In the hearing dated August 3, it was understood that Erman Ekici, one of the defendants of the case arrested pending trial, was not an ordinary organization member, but the carrier of the massacre order. Seeing this, the court board changed the offense charged from 'membership of an organization' to 'leadership of an organization'.

"However, as it turned out, this person was an important figure in the massacre and, for that reason, the court demanded the preparation of a new indictment. And we submitted all evidence that we had presented during investigation, prosecution and hearing to the prosecutor's office.

'We are hopeful'

"It is very important that the Prosecutor's Office has prepared such an indictment. I hope that it will continue. The article, based on which the prosecutor issued the indictment, is a first in Turkey. It is the first time that the Article 77 of the law has entered and indictment.

"We said that in several hearings, but they were not taken into account. It is the first time that a prosecutor has taken it into consideration.

"In the three-year trial, we went to the court with this request; however, the court argued that the attack was not of that nature. If the file is not combined, Erman Ekici will be singly tried.

"We tried to explain that the attack targeted a part of the society, the ones who demanded peace and is a crime committed against humanity.

"There are warrants issued against defendants in this case. If this indictment is accepted by the court, the defendants, against whom there are warrants, will also be affected. Because, the charge of 'crimes against humanity' also means that there are no statutory limitations.

"This aspect is also important. It means that, no matter how much they escape, they will be penalized when they are caught." (EMK/SD)