İpek Er case | Criminal complaint against defendant Musa O.’s lawyers

* İpek Er's mother - Photo: Jinnews/ Medya Ürün

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İpek Er lost her life on August 18, 2020. She had been sexually assaulted and driven to commit suicide by specialist sergeant Musa O. in the Beşiri district of Turkey's southeastern province of Batman.

Released from prison pending trial on August 25, 2020 and discharged from the Gendarmerie General Command by the Interior Ministry, defendant Musa O.'s lawyers Mehmet Erkan Akkuş and Aliye Doğan took the floor at the third hearing of the case heard by the Siirt 1st Heavy Penal Court on June 1 and accused father Fuat Er for "not protecting his daughter."

As reported by Hamdullah Kesen from Mezopotamya Agency, the lawyers of Er's family applied to the Siirt Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB) and Ankara Bar Association and filed complaints against O.'s lawyers for "unprofessional conduct", "public insult" and "successive public insult of a public official due to his or her duty."

Drawing attention to the attitude and manner of defense taken by lawyers, the petition has indicated that the Er family is deliberately targeted.

'They accused the victim'

The petition of the family's lawyers has underlined that "the defense statements made by lawyers Mehmet Erkan Akkuş and Aliye Doğan cause the family to be traumatized more at every hearing."

The lawyers have stressed that "in the name of being defense counsels, the private life and family relations of the client are scrutinized in an unlimited and indifferent manner without drawing any causal relations with the file; the family, the judge and the locals are insulted."

"Even the fact that the mother of the deceased fainted from the pain had no effect on their conscience," the lawyers' petition has said and added: "The questions posed by the defense counsels to the client and statements addressed to the court board are related to the issues that concern İpek Er's father, elder sister, mother, etc., her nuclear family and personal life."

The petition of the lawyers has indicated that Musa O.'s lawyers talked about "the points such as the notion of honor, to which the people over a certain age attach a critical importance as a matter of the social conditions in the East and Southeast Anatolian Region, in such a way to address unjust and serious accusations against the client, to put a slur, to violate the privacy of the private life and to bring the court board under suspicion."

What happened?

Living in the Beşiri district of Turkey's southeastern province of Batman, İpek E. appealed to the Siirt Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on July 7 and filed a criminal complaint against specialist sergeant Musa O. Indicating that he raped her, E. gave a detailed deposition to the prosecutor.

On July 16, she left a letter and attempted to claim her life with a gun. She was taken to the Batman Regional Hospital. İpek E. was seriously wounded when she was hospitalized. After being treated there for 34 days, İpek E. lost her life at the hospital on August 18, 2020.

Musa O. was detained as part of the investigation on July 16. He was referred to court with a request for his arrest; however, he was then released on probation. The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office objected to this ruling, but it was not accepted. An indictment was prepared on July 27.

The indictment was returned due to missing points. The prosecutor's office objected to this decision as well. With this objection accepted, the office demanded Musa O.'s arrest again with this indictment. Amid social media outrage, Musa O. was arrested and sent to prison.

His attorneys objected to his arrest and the Siirt 2nd Heavy Penal Court accepted the objection. Musa O. was released on August 25.

On August 31, the Ministry of Interior announced that Specialist Sergeant Musa O. was discharged from the Gendarmerie General Command. (EMK/SD)