Examination at Scene of Incident in Şule Çet Case Conducted Without Arrested Defendants

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University student Şule Çet suspiciously lost her life after falling off the 20th floor of a high-rise building in Ankara on May 29, 2018.

An examination was conducted at the high-rise building yesterday (June 17). In the examination carried out by the court, both the office on the 20th floor of the building and the point where Çet hit the ground were examined.

In the second hearing of the case held on May 15, 2019, the Ankara 31st Heavy Penal Court ruled for an examination at the scene of incident. The next hearing of the case will be held on July 10, 2019.

Arrested defendants were not present

Arrested defendants Çağatay Aksu and Berk Akand were not brought to the on-scene examination at the building on Mevlana Boulevard in Çankaya.

The examination at the scene of incident was attended by members of the court board and attorneys of both sides, an expert from the Forensic Medicine Institute, a civil engineer and the police officer from the police team that came to the scene of incident after Şule Çet fell off the building.

'There are missing evidence'

While the Presiding Judge and experts asked questions during the examination at the office based on the evidence included in the case file, the court board also heard the allegations of lawyers from both sides.

The examination took two and a half hours and the court board left the building after taking down minutes.

The lawyers of Çet family also made a brief statement to the press:

"The sanitary pad and underwear that Şule Çet was wearing when she fell can still not be found, they cannot be found. In the previous hearing, we presented the material evidence that would prove the finding of rape.

"Evidence has to be collected properly so that the rule of law could be ensured for every citizen in Turkey. 

"We are asking the police team coming to the scene of incident after this police officer, crime scene investigation team, Public Prosecutor, autopsy technician and forensic medicine expert the following question:

"Where are this underwear and sanitary pad? Why is one of the most important pieces of evidence that would prove finding of rape missing?"

Court didn't allow academics to the examination

The court did not grant permission that Prof. Dr. Hakan Kar from Mersin University and Forensic Medicine expert Prof. Çağlar Özdemir from Erciyes University, who previously drafted a report on the incident, attend yesterday's examination. However, the academics will conduct an examination at the scene of incident after the examination of the court.

Academics: 'It is against the nature of process'

In their expert report, academics Kar and Özdemir indicated that the left shoe of Çet was found under her right arm and her right shoe 155 centimeters away from her left foot and concluded,

"It is clear that the shoe of Şule Çet hit the ground before her, which is against the behavior pattern of suicide and nature of the process." (EMK/SD)

* Photograph: Femicides' Platform