Mardin Massacre Trial Starts

The court case against the 11 detained defendants indicted  for killing 44 people in the southeast Bilge village starts. The victims most of whom women and children from the same family were slaughtered in the southeastern province of Mardin in the night of 4 May 2009 at an engagement celebration . The court case was relocated to the city of Çorum for security reasons.

The case was openened on 2 September at the Çorum High Criminal Court. The media is not allowed to cover the closed sessions due to the procedural laws to protect children as one of the defandants is only 14 years old. 17 witnesses to the massacre are expected to testify in the first hearing of the case.

Three defendants admitted the charges, eight state they were not involved

As reported by Ntvmsnbc.com, 11 defendants were heard in the first hearing. Three of the defendants declared guilty, reasoning the murders as "honor" killings. The remaining 8 denied any involvement in the massacre and rejected the accusations.

Defendants Mehmet Çelebioğlu, Şirin Çelebi and Abdüllhakim Çelebi, who accepted the charges, confirmed the statements of the other 8 defendants: "We committed the murders, we made the massacre. The other 8 defendants were not present at the place of action". According to the report from the Forensic Laboratory, 6 rifles were used in the massacre, among them 5 Kalashnikov machine guns.

44-fold life sentence claimed

In the massacre of Bilge village with its 32 houses in the district of Mazıdağı 44 people were killed and three people injured. 6 children and 16 women were among the victims.

The Mardin Chief Public Prosecutor's Office prepared an indictment of 43 pages. The prosecutor claims a 44-fold life sentence in solitary confinement with no possibility of parole for 9 of the detained defendant on trial, charging the defendants of "killing people with brutish an bestial feelings." 

The indictement also asks for a prison sentence of 17 years for Ahmet Çelebi, in whose house 6 hand  grenades were found. Furthermore, the prosecutors stated that the investigation of under-aged M.Ş.Ç. is going to be carried out separately.   

The child and the 11 detained defendants on trial have been transferred from the closed F-type prison in Gaziantep to the closed L-type prison in Çorumn 8 August.

Engagement raided with machine guns

On the night of 4th May at 21.30 hrs a group of armed people dashed into the engagement ceremony of Sevgi Çelebi and her cousin Habip Arı. Sevgi Çelebi was the daughter of former village headman Cemil Çelebi. Also the bride and the groom were among the victims. After the attack the perpetrators shot holes in the tires of the vehicles of the village to prevent being followed. (EÖ/VK)