Indictment Against 4 People, Including 3 Police Officers, 5 Years After Tahir Elçi Murder

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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A bill of indictment has been issued for the murder of Diyarbakır Bar Association Chair Tahir Elçi in Suriçi in Diyarbakır on November 28, 2015. The indictment has been sent to court for examination.

While the indictment has been prepared by prosecutor Nazım Tüzün, the court has 15 days to either accept or reject the indictment.

Police officers have denied the accusations

While there are five complainants, including the wife of late lawyer Türkan Elçi, in the 40-page indictment, there are four accused suspects, among whom are also three police officers. The statements of 62 witnesses, including the police officers who were at the scene of incident and opened fire, have also been included in the indictment.

Police officer S.T., who is both a complainant and a suspect in the file, said in his statement, "I did not see the moment when Tahir Elçi was shot. Because I did not shoot Elçi. Tahir Elçi was not in my shooting range and I did not see who shot this person. I do not accept the accusations."

Police officers S.T., M.S. and F.T. face the possible charges of "causing death by culpable negligence" as per the Article 85/1 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). The indictment demands 2 to 6 years in prison for the officers.

The other two police officers also testified that they did not shoot Elçi.

Aggravated life sentence for the other suspect

Uğur Yakışır, the other suspect, also faces the charges of "wilful killing, killing with eventual intent, opposition to Law no. 6136 on Firearms and Knives, disrupting the unity of the state and integrity of the country, damaging property." The indictment demands aggravated life sentence for Yakışır, who is also accused of murdering police officers Cengiz Erdur and Ahmet Çiftaslan, who were killed on the same day with Tahir Elçi.

The bill of indictment refers to Yakışır in following words: "Committing the offenses of martyring two police officers, attempting to murder one police officer and killing Tahir Elçi with eventual intent as per the Article 302/1 of the TCK, the suspect who is the member of a terrorist organization shall be penalized under the Article 302/1 of the TCK no. 5237 through the Article 4/1 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMK) no. 3713..."

The indictment cites the following as evidence: "Statements of complainants and witnesses, camera records, reports of law enforcement officers, expertise and forensic medicine institution reports, crime scene investigation reports, defenses of suspects, civil registry and criminal records."

While none of the suspects is arrested, there is a warrant issued against suspect Uğur Yakışır.

What happened?

Tahir Elçi attended a live TV program on CNN Türk hosted by Ahmet Hakan on October 15, 2015. Elçi said, "The PKK [Kurdistan Workers Party] is not a terrorist organization." While the channel was fined 700 thousand lira over these words, Tahir Elçi was detained in his office in Diyarbakır Bar Association and taken to İstanbul on November 20.

While the prosecutor's office referred Elçi to court with a request for his arrest, the Bakırköy 2nd Heavy Penal Court released him on probation. A bill of indictment was brought against Elçi on charge of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization." Elçi faced up to 7.5 years in prison.

Diyarbakır Bar Association Chair Tahir Elçi was murdered while making a statement for the press in front of the Four-Legged Minaret in Sur, Diyarbakır on November 28, 2015. (AS/SD)