Prosecutor Charges Pınar Selek With Life Sentence Again

Istanbul 15^th High Criminal Court reopened the case of Pınar Selek this morning with case prosecutor charging the sociologist to aggravated life sentence one more time for allegedly involving in the Egyptian Bazaar Bombing in 1998. 

Pınar Selek’s attorney, on the other hand, requested extra time for defense after discussion all the submitted evidence and informing the judge panel on the case. 

A delegation of activist and attorneys from France were also present in the courtroom. Among the notable observers included Strasbourg’s Vice Mayor Mine Günbay. The next hearing was set to December 19.

“The opinion shows that prosecutor has no knowledge” 

Requesting to speak on the hearing, advocate Ayhan Erdoğan claimed that even though the prosecutor reiterated his charges, he didn’t present any related evidence. 

“In this new trial process, we will not contend to say that ‘our client is innocent’. We will discuss all the evidence with the court panel.”

Following the hearing, advocate Akın Atalay underlined to bianet that the charges were made despite the lack of adequate evidence. 

“Normally,” he continued, “a prosecutor makes a tangible event analysis and makes a claim supported by evidence. And on the second stage, he related to Penal Code articles. In today’s hearing, the opinion was announced without making any of these. 

“In a normal hearing, such opinion is in favor of the defense. In other words, this clearly shows that the prosecutor has no information about the case. We will mention these during our defense.” 

What happened?

Having been tried and acquitted three times in the Egyptian Bazaar Bombing in 1998, Pınar Selek was sentenced to life on 24 January 2013. 

Upon her appeal, Cessation Court 9^th Penal Chamber overturned the verdict. 

On October 3, the case opened again with the judge ordering the removal of life sentence and arrest warrant for Selek. (ÇT/BM)

* Click here to read the article in Turkish.