Alevi organizations protest the decision in front of the courthouse

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In the last trial related to the Madımak Massacre, where 35 people were brutally killed by fire in the Sivas Madımak Hotel on July 2, 1993, a statute of limitations decision was made. The trial of the three fugitive defendants, Murat Sonkur, Eren Ceylan, and Murat Karataş, who had their cases separated from the main Madımak Massacre trial, resulted in a statute of limitations decision in the hearing held yesterday (September 14).

The decision was protested in front of the courthouse.

As a press statement was not allowed inside the courthouse, Alevi organizations, participating citizens, and lawyers held a press statement in front of the courthouse. According to the report by Yıldız Tar from Artıgerçek, slogans of "Do not forget, do not let it be forgotten" were chanted during the statement.

Cuma Erçe, the President of the Pir Sultan Abdal Cultural Association, said, "From now on, our ranks will be clearer. We will decide who we will fight with and who we will make peace with. We will not leave this trial to the end of time."

"We are determined to explore all avenues"

Şenal Sarıhan, the Lawyer of the Sivas Massacre Trial, stated the following:
"This struggle was a lost one from the day it began. Because according to the police records, while there were 15,000 people, only a few were detained and brought to court.

"History has a mirror. Everyone will look into that mirror and see their own faces. History will record the trials that have been subjected to the statute of limitations. We are not at the end of our legal struggle. We are determined to explore all avenues.

"Great gains come from areas that seem like defeats. That gain is the determination to fight and resist. May today's decision give us all the strength to continue the struggle." 

About Sivas Massacre and its judicial process

On July 2, 1993, 37 people, including 33 artists and writers, 2 hotel workers, and 2 attackers, lost their lives in the fire that started at Madımak Hotel in Sivas. 33 intellectuals were there to attend the Pir Sultan Abdal festivities. 65 people, including 14 police officers, got wounded in the fire.

124 people were arrested in relation to the fire. In the seven-year trial process, 33 people were sentenced to death and 85 people were given prison sentences of 2 to 15 years. 37 defendants were acquitted. The death sentences of 33 people were converted to aggravated life sentences.

On March 13, 2012, the Ankara 11th Heavy Penal Court dropped the charges of the Sivas Massacre trial in line with the prosecutor's demand to apply the statute of limitations to the case.

As the 9th Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation upheld the verdict on the violation of the statute of limitations, lawyer Şenal Sarıhan took the case to the Constitutional Court in 2014. However, the court has not yet announced its judgment. In response, lawyer Sarıhan has appealed to the Constitutional Court regarding the long judicial processes.

The trial of the three fugitive defendants, Murat Sonkur, Eren Ceylan, and Murat Karataş, who had their cases separated from the main Madımak Massacre trial, resulted in a statute of limitations decision in the hearing on September 14, 2023. (RT/PE)