Pınar Gültekin feminicide case | 'The private life of the deceased is put on trial'

* Alper Şaşmaz/csgorselarsiv.org

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In the trial over the feminicide of Pınar Gültekin in Muğla's Ula district in July 2020, the fifth hearing was held today (July 12).

In a previous statement, Rezan Epözdemir, the lawyer of Gültekin's family, announced that his appeal to the Court of Cassation was accepted.

In response to the decision of non-prosecution given for the arrested defendant Cemal Metin A.'s father S.A., mother A.A. and business partner Ş.G.O., lawyer Epözdemir had appealed to the Court of Cassation and demanded the reversal of this decision for the sake of law.

As reported by İhlas News Agency (İHA), the lawyer announced that his appeal had been accepted and said, "An indictment will be lodged against the mother, father and partner of defendant A."

CLICK - 'Defendant's parents, partner to be indicted'

Request for recusal rejected

The fifth hearing of the case started at the Muğla 3rd Heavy Penal Court at 1.30 pm today. The Twitter account of "Pınar Gültekin Case" (@gultekindavasi) shared the developments at the hearing. The request for recusal raised by lawyer Epözdemir was rejected by the court board.

As reported by the account, the business partner, sibling, mother and father of arrested defendant Cemal Metin A. will be put on trial as defendants of "aiding the murder". Cemal Metin A.'s parents will appear before the judge for "destroying, concealing, tampering with evidence."

While Cemal Metin A. attended the hearing from prison via the Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS), his brother Mertcan A., who was previously released pending trial, used the same system to attend the hearing from İzmir for reasons concerning his life safety.

The "Pınar Gültekin case" account reported that Cemal Metin A. said in his defense, "I am not a villain or misogynist. Put me on trial with justice, not with collective lynching. They call me a murderer on social media. I am asking, 'Do you think that I am a murderer?' Pınar is constantly referred to as my girlfriend on social media. She is not my girlfriend. She was an escort who was together with me by force. I want this to be corrected."

Defendant Cemal Metin A. also reportedly said that "it is a good thing that Turkey has withdrawn from the İstanbul Convention."

'The deceased's private life put on trial'

Rezan Epözdemir, the lawyer of the Gültekin family, made a statement in front of the courthouse following the hearing.

According to the statement of the lawyer, the report issued by the 3rd Specialization Board of the Forensic Medicine Institution has confirmed that Pınar Gültekin was burned while she was still alive.

The lawyer also raised concerns that "in this trial, there is an attempt to put the private life of the deceased on trial."

"We have been saying this since the beginning. There is an allegation of unjust provocation. The defendant says, 'The deceased took out a knife on me, I panicked and killed her.' But there is no knife or bag. This is a memorized and fictionalized defense of unjust provocation," he said.

Noting that the videos and correspondence of the deceased from two years prior have been summoned from the US, Epözdemir said, "The notification of the writ and the response to this will perhaps take months. The right to trial within reasonable time is being violated. What contribution will a writ to the US make to the trial? I have difficulty understanding this."

Epözdemir raised concerns that it "will legitimize the death and put the private life on trial." He said, "It creates such a perception."

The next hearing of the case will be held on September 27.

What happened?

Pınar Gültekin (27), a student of Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University in the Mediterranean region, was found dead on July 21, 2020, five days after she had got missing. First Cemal Metin A., then his brother Mertcan A. have been arrested as part of the investigation into her death.

A lawsuit has been filed against Cemal Metin A. on charge of "killing with monstrous feeling or by tormenting" and against Mertcan A. for "destroying, hiding or tampering with criminal evidence."

While Cemal Metin A. now faces aggravated life sentence on the offense charged, his brother faces up to 5 years in prison.

Mertcan A. was released at his third hearing on February 15, 2021. Both the prosecutor's office and the attorney of the Gültekin family appealed against the defendant's release a day later. (AÖ/SD)