Diyarbakır Bar: Police Officers Suspected of Tahir Elçi Murder Should Be Arrested

Click to read the article in Turkish

The Diyarbakır Bar Association held a press conference to announce the results of the report which was prepared by the University of London-based Forensic Architecture research agency regarding the murder of Tahir Elçi.

CLICK - Forensic Architecture Announces Report on Tahir Elçi Murder

Speaking at the press conference, Diyarbakır Bar Association Chair Cihan Aydın and lawyer Barış Yavuz stated that the report was presented to the Ministry of Justice and the Prosecutor's Office, emphasizing that no additional investigation has been launched into Elçi murder afterwards.

"3 police officers are the most likely suspects"

Cihan Aydın made the following remarks in the press conference:

"Our expectation is the following: This report has evaluated the video footages, voice analyses and expert reports in the case file as a whole and identified who might have caused the death of Elçi.

"The report has concluded that three police officers are the most likely suspects. For us, it is the most crucial point of the report.

"The report has shown that there can be strong criminal suspicion suggesting that one of those three police officers might have fired the gun which caused the death of Tahir Elçi.

"An arrest warrant should be issued"

"Our expectation is that these police officers are immediately summoned as suspects and put on trial and an arrest warrant is issued against this person or persons in the light of evidence that will be obtained.

"This is what we expect from the investigating authority as Diyarbakır Bar Association and the commission investigating the murder of Elçi."

Yavuz: Police officers were listened as witnesses

Speaking at the conference after Aydın, lawyer Barış Yavuz also said,

"All of the 26 police officers, who were at the scene of incident when Elçi was murdered, were listened as witnesses. None of these officers were listened as suspects. Right from the start, we have received information that they were appointed to other duties outside Diyarbakır."

Referring to the report of the Forensic Architecture, Yavuz said, "It is a report prepared on scientific grounds; feeling the necessity for another report after the presentation of this one can be defined as prolonging the way going to the conclusion rather than directly coming to the conclusion." (PT/SD)