3 ministries make defense in Ayşe Tuba Arslan feminicide case

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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Ayşe Tuba Arslan was attacked with a chopping knife by her ex-husband Yalçın Özalpay in Eskişehir province in 2019. Having struggled for her life for 44 days, she died on November 24, 2019.

Before she was killed, she filed 23 criminal complaints about the threats and insults of her ex-husband by appealing to the Eskişehir Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. She also had several protective orders.

After her passing, her parents filed a lawsuit for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages against the Ministries of Justice, Interior and Family, Labor and Social Services on the grounds that their daughter was not protected. As reported by Mesut Hasan Benli from daily Hürriyet, the ministries presented their defense statements to the Eskişehir 2nd Administrative Court.

'Application not submitted'

In the defense statement submitted by the Justice Ministry, it has been defined as "unacceptable" that "the parties who are not satisfied with the judicial proceedings undertaken by courts and prosecutor's offices consider it to be a neglect of duty within the scope of the principles of the administrative law and file a lawsuit for damages against the Ministry of Justice."

"A contrary opinion indirectly leads to the Justice Ministry's supervision of the judicial proceedings undertaken by courts and prosecutor's offices, which is impossible in the face of the courts' independence guaranteed by the Constitution and the principles of the rule of law.

"In the occurrence of the related incident, there is no neglect of duty that can be attributed to our ministry," the Justice Ministry has said.

"The petition that reads, 'Will you help me after my death takes place?' was not submitted to the Eskişehir Courthouse," the Ministry has added.

'Responsible parties should face charges'

The defense statement of the Interior Ministry has also read:

"In the related incident, there is no neglect that can be attributed to our administration. The related incident happened as a result of an action deliberately taken by a third person. For this reason, a lawsuit should be filed against the responsible persons in the judicial justice due to the criminal personal defect of the person who committed the act. The rejection of the plaintiffs' request for damages is required in the face of the fact that our administration does not have any neglect in the related actions."

'No neglect on the part of administration'

Lastly, the defense of the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services has said, "A protective measure can be taken as per the Law no. 6284 on the Protection of Family and Prevention of Violence Against Women. First of all, these services must be requested by the protected person. However, in our concrete case, Ayşe Tuba Arslan did not make a request for help within the above-mentioned scope. It will not be possible to talk about a neglect of duty on the part of the administration at this stage."

(EMK/SD)