Constitutional Court ruling on a death during Kobanê protests

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The Constitutional Court has concluded the application of Mehmet Demir, who lost his son Emrah Demir (25) during Kobanê protests in Batman.

According to the detailed ruling published in the Official Gazette today (March 24), the top court evaluated the dismissal of the lawsuit for damages filed by the family of Emrah Demir, who was shot to death during the protests in Kurdish-majority southeast Turkey in 2014.

The Constitutional Court, giving a ruling of right violation, has concluded that the right to access to courts within the scope of the right to a fair trial guaranteed by Article 36 of the Constitution has been violated.

The top court has noted that the violation in question was caused by the dismissal of the family's lawsuit for damages by the Batman Administrative Court and ruled that the trial shall be held again.

Accordingly, a copy of the Constitutional Court ruling will be sent to the local court so that the violation in question can be eliminated by retrial.

Investigation closed by 'permanent search warrant'

When Emrah Demir went out with his grandfather in the evening of October 8, 2014, he was shot. Taken to the Batman Regional Public Hospital, he lost his life there. Following the autopsy at the Malatya Forensic Medicine Institution, he was laid to rest in İstanbul.

In the investigation conducted by the Batman Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, it was concluded that the person who shot Demir could not be identified. The prosecutor's office issued a "permanent search warrant" on June 29, 2018, which foresaw that the suspect or suspects would be searched for 25 years within the period of statutory limitations.

As their request for damages was rejected by the Ministry of Interior, the family of Emrah Demir filed a lawsuit by appealing to the administrative court. As the lawsuit was dismissed due to prescription, they made an individual application to the Constitutional Court.

In their application to the top court, the family argued that Emrah Demir was shot to death during the protests, the criminal proceedings into his death were confidentially conducted, they could not get detailed information about the incident until the investigation was finalized and their lawsuit into the neglect of duty committed by the administration was dismissed due to prescription with a false comment.

The Constitutional Court, which handed down its ruling on February 25, 2021, announced its detailed ruling today (AS/SD)