Şenyaşar family seek justice before appeals court: 'Justice for everyone'

* Photo: MA

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Emine Şenyaşar and her son Ferit Şenyaşar have been on a justice watch for their killed and arrested family members in front of the Urfa Courthouse. Applying to the appeals court, they kept their latest justice watch in front of the Antep Regional Court of Justice, the appeals court.

Emine Şenyaşar lost her spouse and two sons in an attack by the security guards and relatives of İbrahim Halil Yıldız from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Urfa. She and her son Ferit Şenyaşar, who survived the attack, have been seeking justice since then.

Fadıl Şenyaşar, also a son of Emine Şenyaşar, was sentenced to 37 years, 9 months in prison at his final hearing on April 2, 2021.

Justice watch in front of appeals court

Coming in front of the appeals court today (February 28), the family opened a banner that read, "They massacred my two sons and spouse! Not a single person has been arrested. My son has been in solitary confinement for four years upon the instructions of superiors. I request immediate release for my son! Justice for the Şenyaşar family, justice for everyone!"

As reported by Mezopotamya Agency (MA), speaking in front of the courthouse, Ferit Şenyaşar also briefly stated the following:

We were attacked in our workplace. Our three people were brutally massacred inside the Suruç State Hospital. As the one who had committed the massacre was an MP from the ruling party, justice did not operate. The massacre was not enough; our sibling (Fadıl Şenyaşar) has been arrested in a solitary confinement cell for four years. The ruling is pending before the appeals court. Today, my mother and I will keep our watch here. We will request a meeting with the court board who reviews the ruling. We will talk about the injustice committed here. We will struggle until justice is served.

Following the statement, the family, along with their lawyer Bülent Duran, went to the Antep Regional Court of Justice and Administrative Court building to submit their petition of appeal against the rejection of their request for Fadıl Şenyaşar's release on December 9, 2021.

What happened?

During the election campaign of ruling AKP Urfa MP İbrahim Halil Yıldız in Suruç, Urfa on June 14, 2018, an attack turned into an armed conflict, which claimed the lives of Yıldız's brother Mehmet Şah Yıldız, shop owner Hacı Esvet Şenyaşar and his sons Adil and Celal Şenyaşar.

Having lost his father and two brothers and been wounded himself in the incident, Fadıl Şenyaşar was discharged from hospital and detained on June 17. He was then arrested and sent to prison.

Demanding justice for two sons, husband and her arrested son, Emine Şenyaşar and her son Ferit Şenyaşar, who survived the attack, have been keeping a "justice watch" in front of the courthouse.

There has been a confidentiality order on the file of the investigation into the attack for 3 years, 3 months. The second appeal of the Şenyaşar family against the "confidentiality" order on the investigation into the second attack at the Suruç Public Hospital was rejected on April 21, 2021.

The Constitutional Court, to which the family appealed, has not yet given its decision. One of the demands raised by the family on their justice watch is the removal of this "confidentiality" order. (EMK/SD)