Suspect dismisses lawyer in the case of murder of Syrian migrant workers

Click to read the article in Turkish

The second hearing of the case related to the burning of Syrian construction workers Mamoun al-Nabhan, Ahmed Al-Ali and Muhammed el-Bish to death in Güzelbahçe, İzmir on November 16, 2021 was held today (June 14) at the İzmir 1st Heavy Penal Court. 

The suspect, Kemal K. and his lawyers were present at the hearing along with the family members of the Syrian workers killed.

The İzmir bar association, Konak City Council Migrants Assembly, the Association for Solidarity with Migrants, the Refugee Rights Association, the Migrants Media Association, İzmir Platform for Solidairty with Migrants, the People's Bridge Association, the Human Rights Association were also present in the hearing. 

Forensic Medicine Institute: Suspect is of sound mind

Gazete Duvar reported that the hearing started with the chief judge informing that the report requested from the Forensic Medicine Institute had arrived and that it stated that the suspect was of sound mind. 

The suspect, on the other  hand, submitted a written statement to the court where he said, "I worked with my boss at Birlik Beton company for years. The reason that I did not bear testimony is that my former boss threatened me and my family. They are responsible if anything bad happens to me or my family. And the lawyer that he sent me told me to pretend to be of unsound mind." 

The suspect told the court that he was in Urla on the day of the event, and that he carried olive oil there. He came to the scene during the fire. When they went to the hospital after the fire, M.M., the son of his boss, was nervous on the way and he prevented Kemal K. from talking to the Syrians. 

The suspect further told the court that he was dismissed after the event and threatened and forced to claim responsibility for the event. 

"Why was money deposited to your account?"

The chief judge asked Kemal K. why 20 thousand lira was deposited to his account on September 20, 6 thousand 500 lira on November 9, and 15 thousand lira later on. Suspect K. replied that he was doing pavement work and the money was in return for such work. 

Eylem Soylu, one of the lawyers of the workers who lost their lives also asked the suspect questions. Quoting that the suspect says he went to the police and told about M.M. threatening him, Soylu asked when he went to the police station and who he talked to there. And why he did not make any criminal complaint. 

Kemal K. told the court that he did not remember the date, but that it could be 7-8 days after the fire and that he did not remember the name of the officer he talked to. 

Suspect dismisses lawyer

The lawyer of suspect Kemal K. told the court that there were contradictions between different statements that his client made and that he believed that he was of unsound mind. The suspect objected, said he was of sound mind and dismissed the lawyer. 

The court ruled that another lawyer should be appoilnted for the suspect, and that the hearing should be adjourned to October 4, 2023. (RT/PE)