Lawyer: 'They will close Deniz Poyraz case without solving the murder'

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The sixth hearing of the case where Onur Gencer is standing trial will be held tomorrow (December 27). Gencer had realized an armed attack on the building of the People's Democratic Party (HDP) in İzmir on June 17, 2021, and killed the party worker Deniz Poyraz.

In the fifth hearing of the case, after the tension, the court board ruled that the case should be heard at the Şakran Prison campus in İzmir's Aliağa district, citing "security reasons."

The court may render a judgment in the 6th hearing to be held in Şakran and the case may end.

Lawyer Türkan Arslan Ağaç evaluated the case to bianet before the hearing tomorrow.

"Attack was kept limited with the aggressor"

Arslan- Ağaç has always told that there are many aspects that are incomplete from the investigation stage to the indictment both in the hearings and in interviews made with her. She said that the prosecutor kept the investigation "limited to the part of the attack that was apparent and did not question its background."

Arslan- Ağaç explained that no data was included in the file related to evidence that may reveal those who instigated or who aided the attack in the investigation stage.

She said, "Out of the countless pieces of information included within the evidence obtained from the suspect and from his house, only a limited and small part was put in the file. The date in the digital evidence obtained from the suspect was not presented in the file with an integral approach but only partial data was included in the file related to the date of the event as if they are cherry-picked.

"HTS records not submitted to file"

"The persons who we believe are connected to the suspect and the attack were included in the file as those "who have knowledge" or as a "witness." No investigation was made on his Historical Traffic Search (HTS) records or the 950 people recorded on his phone. The chats of the suspect on Whatsapp or other applications were not presented in the file.

"Although the person who the suspect directed his phone to while in custody was identified, no action was taken about this person. Our request that some people we identified from the HTS records should be investigated was met in a limited way and only a shallow investigation was made.

"Relations with Jihadist groups not investigated"

"The relations of the suspect with organized crime groups were investigated only in the scope of Law number 3713 and over POLNET (Police Information System). The relations of the suspect with structures settled down within the state were not investigated.

"Pieces of evidence to show that the suspect may have had relations with jihadist groups during his assignment in Syria were not investigated. Although it is known that the suspect has close relations to the racist structure, this was not investigated. No investigation was made on the security forces with whom the suspect has relations.

"Thus the prosecutor kept the investigation limited to the apparent side of the attack. I believe that the security officers obtained information about the connections of the suspect but did not present this information in the file."

"The Court did not cover any distance either"

Arslan- Ağaç noted that "the Constitutional rule was targeted" with the attack on HDP but that no progress was made in the trial stage either.

She emphasized that the court board was "trying to close the Deniz Poyraz case which is a political murder.

She said, "This attack is at the People's Democratic Party. The suspect made preparations in order to kill everyone in the party building that day. So this is a racist, fascist and bloody attack carried out with political motives. It is not an attack toward Deniz Poyraz personally.

"Not even evidence in the file was evaluated"

"This is an attack with political motive taking place in the third largest city of Türkiye toward the third largest political party. It is directed at a political party. However, no investigation or prosecution has been carried out accordingly.

"The court even keeps away from evaluating the evidence that is present in the file.

"Our requests for gathering evidence overlooked"

"The court has not agreed to any of our requests for gathering evidence so there is no new evidence in the file. The court did not accept even one-tenth of our requests. Violating the principles of face-to-face questioning, questioning without an intermediary, the court took the statements of the witnesses by instruction and did not let us use our right to ask questions.

"Especially after the chief judge and one member of the board changed, the attitude of the new board changed completely. I can tell this conveniently and that they tried to close the file keeping those participating, the MPs and the journalists away from the courtroom. They are trying to continue the trial violating the principle of publicity."

"Witnesses were heard while lawyers not present"

Lawyer Arslan- Ağaç recalled the last hearing held on October 14 and said that the court acted unlawfully.

"Only a limited number of lawyers were allowed in the hearing whose names were written on the power of attorney. And they were sent off the courtroom after their objections to unlawful decisions of the court. Some witnesses were heard in the hearing while we were not present and the opinion as to the accusations was taken from the prosecutor in a rush.

"Trying to render judgment despite so many shortcomings"

"They are trying to render a judgment in the hearing to be held tomorrow (December 27) despite countless deficiencies. The chief judge and his board seem to be fully closed to all of our legal requests.

"Of course, this is not an attitude towards us. The court board has closed itself to reality. It has closed itself to the main purpose of criminal procedure. Therefore it is not possible that a political murder can be solved under these conditions with a board that has such a perspective." (RT/PE)