Village Guard Talked to Police before Killing 2 People

The demand to release defendants Turan Bilen and Metin Bilen who stand accused of killing two people was dismissed by the Ankara 9^th Criminal Court on 29 June. They apperently shot into a group of people demonstrating against the closure of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) in Muş, a town close to the city of Bulanık in south-eastern Turkey on 15 December 2009. Kemal Ağcan and Necmi Oral were killed in the shooting.

The second hearing of the case concerned with the murder was held in Ankara on 1 July. The hearing was attended by Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Muş Deputies Sırrı Sakık and Nuri Yaman, BDP Deputy Co-Chair Tuncer Bakırhan and Ahmet Türk, Co-Chair of the closed DTP.

The Kurdish politician Türk had been attacked after the first hearing of the case which was held in Samsun.

Police contact before shooting

The trial was transferred to the Ankara 9^th High Criminal Court after the attack and postponed to 29 June.

Subsequent to the related investigation, the court announced that Turan Bilen talked to the Chief of Police of Muş, the Chief of Police of the Bulanık district and the Gendarmerie General Command before he shot into the crowd.

One of the defence lawyers, Mustafa Remzi Toprak, stated, "When the protests escalated, one or two small weapons were used as a warning. It is clear that the limits of legal defence were not surpassed". Prosecutor Adil Kubat demanded to release the defendants pending trial, which was dismissed by the court.

Military tension in the court room

The lawyers pointed out that the presence of armed soldiers in the court room was a breach of law. Thus, the judge decreed to expel the soldiers from the room. Palpable tension was created when one of the soldiers closed the rifle butt in a rough motion just when he was passing the lawyers on his way out. The incident was recorded in the minutes upon the request of the lawyers.

"Politicized issue"

DTP Deputy Sakık said after the hearing, "Everybody tries to legitimate the murderers. Two people have died. [...] We hope that everybody will receive the deserved punishment. Unfortunately, we saw that the law became a politicized issue".

Defendant Bilen and his family were flown out of the city by helicopter after the attack. It was reported that the Interior Minister had described Bilen as a "volunteer village guard" after the incident.

Two chiefs of police were removed from duty after the attack on Ahmet Türk in Samsun. Attacker İsmail Çelik was released pending trial after two months in detention. (EÜ/TK/VK)