Writer Akhanlı Acquitted

Writer Erdoğan Akhanlı was acquitted by the Istanbul 11^th High Criminal Court on 12 September.

Istanbul Public Prosecutor Celal Kara reiterated his final speech as given at the hearing on 15 June.

Kara expressed his opinion that the robbery and the murder were committed with the aim to change the constitutional order. He demanded an aggravated life sentence for Akhanlı under allegations of "the attempt to abolish the constitutional order of the Turkish Republic by armed force" according to the former Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) in force at the time.

Lawyer Ercan Kanar, one of Akhanlı's legal councils, put forward that procedures should be dropped based on the evidence included in the case file or that he should be acquitted right after the procedures were started.

Kanar argued that the indictment and the prosecutor's final speech were regrettable in terms of law. "The investigation about my client was not in accordance with Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights regarding the right to a fair trial", he criticized.

Kanar pointed out that neither the indictment nor and especially the final speech of the prosecution considered the evidence and statements in support of writer Akhanlı as included in the case file. The lawyer stated that the final plea of the prosecution was contrary to Articles 36 and 38 of the Constitution and that this opposed the Budapest professional principles. Kanar claimed that the identity parade and the identification after the robbery had not been done in compliance with the law. He indicated that the applications were not conform with the Criminal Procedure Law as in force before 1992 either. Kanar emphasized the contradictions of the witnesses' statements that had not been taken into consideration. Thus, he requested the acquittal of Akhanlı who is a German citizen.

The court board recalled that the trial had been opened with the demand for an aggravated life sentence based on Article 146/1 of the former Turkish Criminal Law (No.765) on the "attempt to abolish the Constitutional order". According to the court board, there was a lack of concrete and credible evidence that would exclude any doubt and justified a conscientious conviction. Hence, the court ruled for the Akhanlı's acquittal because it could not be certainly proved that the defendant had actually committed the crime imputed on him.

Short summary of lengthy procedures

Akhanlı was arrested when he entered Turkey on 10 August after having lived in Germany for years. He was taken to the Tekirdağ (Thrace) No.2 F Type Prison and remained in detention for four months.

Akhanlı was considered as one of the culprits involved in a robbery on an exchange bureau in Eminönü (Istanbul) on 23 October 1989. The owner of the exchange office, İbrahim Yaşar Tutum, was killed in the robbery. Akhanlı came to Turkey in August 2010 to see his critically ill father who passed away while Akhanlı was in detention.

Akhanlı was alleged of an affiliation to the "Turkish People's Liberation Party - Re-Liberation Union People's Liberation Forces". He also stood accused of having killed one person in the course of the armed robbery.

The sons of slain İbrahim Yaşar Tutum stated that Akhanlı was not the person who killed their father. Akhanlı was released pending trial on 8 December 2010. (HK/VK)