Death of Leyla Aydemir | All defendants acquitted without new evidence examined

* Source: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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The court has ruled that all seven defendants shall be acquitted in the retrial over the death of 4-year-old Leyla Aydemir, who was found dead 18 days after she had gone missing in eastern province of Ağrı.

Speaking about the ruling, Erdoğan Tunç, the lawyer of Leyla Aydemir's family, has announced that they will appeal to the upper court against all rulings of acquittal and said, "The legal struggle will continue. Nothing has ended. We will keep following up this case until the end."

The final hearing held at the Ağrı 1st Heavy Penal Court today (October 8) was attended by Leyla Aydemir's paternal uncle Yusuf A., who had been released pending retrial, as well as the other defendants Y.A, B.D, H.D, M. A., M.A. ve A.A., who were not arrested.

The transcription of an audio record submitted to the court at the previous hearing and allegedly related to the incident was read out at the hearing.

In this audio record, it was alleged that the teams of the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), who made search efforts for Leyla Aydemir, heard her voice in the cellar, but the paternal uncle told an AFAD employee, 'Hush, they will kill me if they hear it.'

Family's lawyer slammed the judge

Asked by the court board about his remarks on this audio record, the family's lawyer Erdoğan Tunç briefly stated the following:

"The first audio record presented at the previous hearing was given by a person who was not an AFAD official. These were given by an AFAD official who wants to remain anonymous. It is said that the voice records of AFAD officials are in the CD. I listened to the audio records.

"Two important points attracted my attention. One of them asks the other, 'What is it about the cellar? Do you know anything about it?' The other answers, 'Yes, our people saw it on the first day, but they didn't intervene as she would be released anyway.'

"I think, what is meant by 'our people' is a few other AFAD officials. In the other audio record, one person says, 'If I were a lawyer, I would summon the ones from the teams and talk to them.' The other one responds, 'A lawyer cannot do it, the prosecutor does.' The other one says, 'We don't speak, the lawyer takes an audio recording."

Upon the presiding judge's questions about the audio records, Tunç said, "You ruined the investigation, the investigation was completed differently. You don't allow me to speak. You are patronizing." In response, the judge said that Tunç's statement would be taken later.

Protesting this decision, Tunç asked, "Where do you get this authority?" The judge answered, "From the Code of Criminal Procedure."

'AFAD officials are accomplices'

After the statements of defendants and their lawyers about the audio records were taken, Tunç was given the right to speak again.

He said, "Since the very beginning, the defendants have been denying the offense. Don't mock anyone's mind. These people are accused of killing their own relative and niece and he is imprisoned. No one offers any help to find the culprit. They want the case to be closed as soon as possible. They also know that there were those who misused the file."

Lawyer Tunç emphasized, "These audio records that we have submitted to the court should be taken seriously and examined. The AFAD officials working there are accomplices of this." Concluding his remarks, he said, "I demand that all defendants be arrested and penalized."

New evidence not taken into consideration

In their statements, the lawyers of the defendants indicated that the audio records submitted to the court would not affect the trial and demanded that a ruling be given based on the current evidence.

In its interim judgement, the court board has rejected the request for transcribing and examining the content of the CD with the related audio records on the grounds that it would not affect the trial.

Presenting the final opinion as to the accusations, the public prosecutor demanded that paternal uncle Yusuf A., M.A. and B.D. be penalized for "deprivation of liberty" and "intentional killing" and A.A. and Y.A. be penalized for participating in these offenses.

While the prosecutor demanded the acquittal of M.A. and H.D. and imprisonment of Yusuf A., M.A., and B.D., the court board has handed down its ruling and acquitted all defendants due to "lack of evidence."

Speaking after the hearing, Erdoğan Tunç, the lawyer of Leyla Aydemir's family, has announced that they will appeal to the upper court against all rulings of acquittal and said, "The legal struggle will continue. Nothing has ended. We will keep following up this case until the end."

"Putting aside its own interim rulings, the court has overlooked very important evidence in the file just to hand down a ruling today," he has added.

What happened?

The final hearing of the lawsuit filed into the death of Leyla Aydemir (4) in Ağrı was held at the Ağrı 1st Heavy Penal Court on October 2, 2020.

Gone missing in the village of Bezirhane (Bezirgane) on June 15, 2018, Leyla Aydemir's deceased body was found 18 days later. Yusuf Aydemir, the paternal uncle of the girl, was arrested pending trial.

Handing down its judgement, the court board ruled that Yusuf Aydemir should be sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment on charge of "wilful murder" without any sentence reductions or good conduct time.

The board also ruled that all other defendants who were not arrested should be acquitted of the offense charged.

While the paternal uncle was given an aggravated life sentence by the local court, he was then released. The attorneys' appeal against his release was rejected. (AÖ/SD)