There remain no arrested defendants in Soma mine explosion case

Speaking about the Soma case, Manisa Bar Association Chair Arslan says that even though the last arrested defendants were released from prison on February 5, the news has been recently heard “because it is impossible to see it in the court file.”

İstanbul

There remain no arrested defendants in Soma mine explosion case

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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After the 12th Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation changed its ruling, no one has remained behind bars as part of the lawsuit filed into the occupational homicide that claimed the lives of 301 miners in Soma district in Turkey's western province of Manisa in 2014.

Soma Coal Enterprises Inc. General Manager Ramazan Doğru, Vice Manager İsmail Adalı and Business Manager Akın Çelik, the last defendants behind bars in Soma case, were released on February 5.

As reported by Dilek Omaklılar from daily Evrensel, Soma 301 Miners Association Chair İsmail Çolak has denounced the ruling and said, "The instructions were given by the Palace, the capital is protected again."

'It is not a coincidental, but deliberate ruling'

Manisa Bar Association Chair Ali Arslan has noted that the verdict is not coincidental. "This verdict is, of course, a deliberate one. They have protected the interests of the capital. 301 miners died, who cares! They are talking about a new Constitution. But you should first enforce the existing one so that I can believe that it will change."

While the arrested defendants were released almost a week ago, the news about their release has recently been heard.

Speaking about this delay, Manisa Bar Association Chair Arslan has said, "It is impossible to see these things in the court file."

Arslan has briefly added the following:

"All in all, the process proceeds as follows: In its last ruling, the 12th Penal Code has upheld the ruling handed down by the Akhisar Heavy Penal Court. After the ruling is upheld, it is sent to the local court and it sends it to the Prosecutor's Office of Execution. The office then makes a calculation by looking at how long they have to serve behind bars and how long they have already served. If these two overlap, the office orders their release.

"In other words, it is not a ruling of release given by the 12th Penal Chamber. It is a ruling of release given by the Prosecutor's Office of Execution after the ruling was upheld. For this reason, it is heard by the public late when it is not announced to the public by people. We could clarify it with our news sources yesterday. It has been reported in the news after we confirmed it. There have now remained no arrested defendants."

What happened?

On May 13, 2014, an explosion in the Soma coal mine in the western Manisa province caused an underground fire in the mine, which burned until May 15.

301 workers were killed and 162 were injured in what was the worst mine incident in the country's history. The trial began on April 13, 2015, and ended on July 11, 2018. There were 45 defendants and 162 injured workers as victim plaintiffs in the case.

Akhisar Heavy Penal Court sentenced Soma Coal Enterprises Inc. Board Chair Can Gürkan to 15 years in prison for "killing by negligence" and banned him from mining business for three years.

Soma Coal Enterprises Inc. General Director Ramazan Doğru, mining engineer and Deputy Operations Manager İsmail Adalı, Operations Manager Akın Çelik and mining engineer Ertan Arsoy were given jail terms from 15 years to 22 years and 6 months. Thirty-seven defendants, including Alp Gürkan, the owner of the company and the father of Can Gürkan, were acquitted.

İzmir Regional Court of Justice 14th Penal Chamber upheld the prison sentences for the five defendants on April 19, 2019. Can Gürkan was released from prison on the same day.

The Court of Cassation 12th Penal Chamber reversed the decision on September 30, 2020. It stated that Can Gürkan targeted increased production without taking required safety measures and setting up a ventilation system despite knowing that there was a high risk of fire. It stated that Gürkan, Doğru Çelik and Adalı should be sentenced for "causing deaths by probable intent" 301 times and "causing injury by probable intent" 261 times.

(AÖ/SD)