Deceived by Lawyers, Killed Worker's Family Seeks Justice: 'We Want Them to Stand Trial'

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Serhat Alkurt worked for years as a "web production worker" at the daily Türkiye newspaper, owned by İhlas Holding.

His job description did not include warehouse work, handling, loading-unloading or traffic flagging.

On September 29, 2016, he was assigned to a duty that was not in his job description. He lost his life after being hit by a truck that would come to the newspaper every night to collect waste papers and newspapers.

The employers said it was an "accident." The driver of the truck was taken into custody for one night.

Alkurt's family has been seeking justice for three years now.

The deal with the holding

Their relatives directed the Alkurt family to a lawyer, who told them that the accident was the driver's fault and the holding responsible.

While they were still mourning Serhat's death, the family was offered a deal by the lawyer. Accordingly, they would not file a complaint against the holding in exchange for money. They signed the deal.

"We were already in sorrow. We trusted this lawyer, who was also recommended by our relatives. He told us all the blame was on the driver. He was released on the same night anyway. Not knowing this, we signed the deal. We were not aware," says Rukiye Alkurt, Sehat's mother.

"The lawyer fooled us. We later learned that the lawyer was one of the former lawyers of İhlas. We couldn't think about that when we were in sorrow. Every time I go to the court for those who caused my child's death to stand trial, they show this deal. However, we were deceived.

"That was the first time in our lives that we had such an experience. We never thought they would deceive us. They hired my son as a web employee, however, he was doing two jobs."

Footage of the incident 'disappeared'

"It is impossible for the driver to not know that my child was there. Because he comes there every night to take papers. We watched the video footage, but then the footage disappeared. We couldn't understand how that happened.

"The second lawyer we found did not help us at all either. He was too lazy to even go to hearings. He would go to the hearings because we pushed him. According to him, too, we should receive the compensation and close this case. We didn't want to do that. We understood that that lawyer was deceiving us as well and left him.

"If we only wanted compensation, we would continue with the same lawyer from the beginning. What matters to us is the punishment of those who caused the death of our child. Look, even the driver is free. A young person died, killed, and no one is held responsible for that."

'We are empowered by other families'

"We were left alone with our sorrow," says the mother, until they met the Bir Umut Association when they learned that there are other families engaged in legal struggle.

"I thought only my child lost his life in an occupational homicide but there are hundreds of families like that. Now the association's lawyers are handling both their and our cases now.

"At courts, judges treat us very badly. They never listen to us. They act as if we are criminals. We can bear this situation thanks to the lawyers of the association. Regardless of the outcome, we will not give up on pursuing this case. I will pursue the case till the end.

"I want those who caused my child's death to stand trial. The deal we signed after being deceived should be void."

Attorney: İhlas Holding's board members should testify

Driver Zihni Arıkan and Türkiye newspaper's printing manager Rüçhan Gülgeç are charged with "causing death."

In the ninth hearing of the case, attorneys requested that it would be determined whether occupational safety specialists were liable for the occurrence of the accident and that the board members who have a signing authority to testify.

Considering the stage of the trial, that wouldn't contribute to the basis of the case, the court concluded, rejecting the request. It sent the case file to the expert witness for the preparation of an additional report with regards to the objections against the new documents included in the file.

The next hearing will take place on June 17.

"In these cases, we think that people outside the scope of my indictment may also have a responsibility and want them to stand trial," attorney Gökhan Küçük from the Bir Umut Association said. "This can be company executives or occupational safety experts. In this case, we think that the members of İhlas Holding's Board of Directors should be heard as witnesses in order to identify these people." (EMK/VK)