Suruç massacre case | ‘Documents came from Ankara’

* Photo: Justice for Suruç

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The 20th hearing of the Suruç massacre case was held at the Urfa 5th Heavy Penal Court in southeast Turkey yesterday (September 29).

As reported by Mezopotamya Agency (MA), the court board rejected all requests of the aggrieved families.

Led by the Socialist Youth Associations Federation (SGDF), several people met in Urfa's Suruç on July 20, 2015 with the aim of bringing toys to children in Kobanî. 33 people lost their lives in a suicide bomb attack launched by ISIS. The trial over the attack is still ongoing.

At the previous hearing held on May 27, the prosecutor presented the opinion as to the accusations and demanded that Yakup Şahin be sentenced to life imprisonment aggravated for 34 times and that the files of fugitive defendants İlhami Bali and Deniz Büyükçelebi be separated.

'Documents of the case came from Ankara'

Yakup Şahin, the only arrested defendant of the Suruç massacre case and also the perpetrator of the October 10 Ankara massacre in 2015, attended yesterday's hearing from the Urfa Type T Closed Prison via the Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS).

Lawyer Sezin Uçar said, "Several documents coming to the case came from the trial over the Ankara massacre. Our requests for the trial of all perpetrators have never been accepted. We want to examine the documents of the Ankara massacre for this. We want everyone who was involved in this massacre to be put on trial. It shouldn't be so hard to access material facts."

Two of three defendants fugitive

Lawyer Uçar recalled that only three people were on trial as part of the Suruç massacre, which claimed the lives of 33 people:

"However, we only have one defendant. And he is constantly attending the hearings via the SEGBİS. There is a perception that Yakup Şahin was the only one committing this massare. The opinion as to the accusations was pronounced without doing further research or bringing the incident to light. The massacres in Ankara and Suruç were connected. The Suruç massacre should shed light on the Ankara massacre. Because it occurred before the Ankara massacre. But the exact opposite is being done. We, lawyers, present the documents and information that we obtained by scanning the press by our own means. But our requests are not accepted."

'The real identity of Ebu Zeynep must be found'

Sezin Uçar noted that the ISIS members who were caught in Turkey always gave the name of "Ebu Zeynep" and added:

"You should not remain indifferent to our requests. What happened at the Ankara massacre? We want to examine all documents about it.

"We want an action to be taken to find the real identity of Ebu Zeynep. In the current situation, the expert reports to be added to the file will be deficient. The camera footage is missing again. We demand that what happened in Suruç and the entire camera footage be added to the file."

'Phones tapped, no HTS records in the file'

Lawyer Serdil İzol also said, "There are over 20 investigations against Deniz Büyükçelebi. The phones of Abdurrahman Alagöz (suicide bomber) and several others were wiretapped. The phones of Alagöz's siblings were wiretapped, but we do not have the Historical Traffic Search (HTS) records. There are no findings about whom he had talked to."

The lawyer underlined that "the spouses of Büyükçelebi and Bali were not asked a single question about Suruç and Ankara," adding that "Ömer Aslan, caught filming at the scene of the incident, gave contradictory statements, but he was not added to the file as a defendant."

'Davutoğlu should be heard as a witness'

Urfa Bar Chair Mehmet Vefat İzol also emphasized that the prosecutor gave an urgent decision and decided to cover up the massacre.

Referring to the then PM Ahmet Davutoğlu's statements about the process, İzol said, "We request that Davutoğlu be heard. He was the Prime Minister at the time and he tells what he knows about that period. He should be heard as a witness. Why is no decision given for that?"

Rejecting the requests of all intervening lawyers, the court has ruled that Yakup Şahin shall remain behind bars.

The next hearing will be held on October 22. (AS/SD)