‘If he was alive today, Tahir Elçi would be the attorney of this case’

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

The first hearing of the lawsuit filed into the assassination of Diyarbakır Bar Association Chair Tahir Elçi in Suriçi, Diyarbakır will be held at the Diyarbakır 10th Heavy Penal Court tomorrow (October 21).

The trial has started five years after Elçi was murderd while making a statement in front of the Four-Legged Minaret in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeastern province of Diyarbakır on November 28, 2015.

On this occasion, Tahir Elçi Foundation has shared a video on its social media account, raising concerns about the deficiencies in the ensuing investigation process. "If he was alive today, Tahir Elçi would himself be the attorney of this case," it has been stated in the video.

Tahir Elçi’nin öldürülmesine ilişkin 5 yıl aradan sonra açılan davanın ilk duruşması 21 Ekim 2020 Çarşamba günü saat 10:00’da Diyarbakır 10. Ağır Ceza Mahkemesinde görülecek. #TahirElçi pic.twitter.com/zidS1hcdVr

— Tahir Elçi İnsan Hakları Vakfı (@tahirelcivakfi) October 19, 2020

On November 28, 2015, Tahir Elçi was murdered in front of the Four-Legged Minaret, where he was making a press statement to be protected from wars, conflicts and arms. Even though he had struggled to bring unidentified murders into life throughout his life, he had never been a mediatic person. However, a few weeks before his death, the name of Tahir Elçi started to be heard frequently. The lynch campaign that started after a sentence uttered by Tahir Elçi in Ahmet Hakan's program was twisted out of its context could end only after he was murdered. Tahir Elçi case is faced with the risk of impunity and remaining as an unidentified murder, against which Tahir Elçi had struggled himself. The evidence was not meticulously collected, his autopsy was not done correctly and even his bill of indictment was not written for four years. At last, the first hearing of the case will be held on October 21, 2020. What will happen after these five years of waiting is unknown. But there is one thing that everyone who knows Tahir Elçi is sure of: If he was alive today, he would himself be the attorney of this case.

About the indictment

The indictment was lodged by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on March 26, 2020 and accepted by the 10th Heavy Penal Court on April 3, 2020. While there are five complainants, including the wife of late lawyer Türkan Elçi, in the 40-page indictment, there are four accused suspects, among whom are also three police officers.

Police officers S.T., M.S. and F.T. face the charges of "causing death by culpable negligence" as per the Article 85/1 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). The indictment demands 2 to 6 years in prison for the officers.

Uğur Yakışır, the other suspect, also faces the charges of "wilful killing, killing with eventual intent, opposition to Law no. 6136 on Firearms and Knives, disrupting the unity of the state and integrity of the country, damaging property." The indictment demands aggravated life sentence for Yakışır, who is also accused of murdering police officers Cengiz Erdur and Ahmet Çiftaslan, who were killed on the same day with Tahir Elçi.

CLICK - Indictment Against 4 People, Including 3 Police Officers, 5 Years After Tahir Elçi Murder

What happened?

Tahir Elçi attended a live TV program on CNN Türk hosted by Ahmet Hakan on October 15, 2015. Elçi said, "The PKK [Kurdistan Workers Party] is not a terrorist organization." While the channel was fined 700 thousand lira over these words, Tahir Elçi was detained in his office in Diyarbakır Bar Association and taken to İstanbul on November 20.

While the prosecutor's office referred Elçi to court with a request for his arrest, the Bakırköy 2nd Heavy Penal Court released him on probation. A bill of indictment was brought against Elçi on charge of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization." Elçi faced up to 7.5 years in prison.

Diyarbakır Bar Association Chair Tahir Elçi was murdered while making a statement for the press in front of the Four-Legged Minaret in Sur, Diyarbakır on November 28, 2015. (AS/SD)