The sixth hearing of the murder trial of German citizen Tilman Ekkehart Geske, Necati Aydin and Ugur Yüksel, who were brutally murdered at the Zirve Publications building in Malatya, eastern Turkey, on 18 April 2007 started at the 3rd High Criminal Court of Malatya.
Giving his statement for the first time, Günaydın said that he did not tie down and stab anyone.
Everyone blames him, but he denies any responsibility
Thus none of the accused confessed to murdering the three Protestants for doing missionary work.
On April 14 hearing, the court had completed the interrogation of the non-arrested suspects Abuzer Yıldırım and Cuma Özdemir. During today’s (May 12) morning session, the court asked questions to the other accused Salih Gürler, who was arrested and interrogated in the last hearing.
The close relatives of the victims Geske and Yüksel were at the hearing as well
Tilman Ekkehart Geske’s wife Suzanne Geske and Uğur Yüksel’s mother Hatice Yüksel are also following the hearing.
Emre Günaydın, Cuma Özdemir, Salih Gürler, Abuzer Yıldrıım and Hamit Çeker, the suspects who were brought in to the Malatya Hall of Justice from Malatya E Type Prison in the early hours of the morning, and the non-arrested suspects Kürşat Kocadağ and Mehmet Gökçe were on trial.
The joint attorneys Ali Koç, Orhan Kemal Cengiz, Hafize Çobanoğlu, Nalan Erkem, Özkan Yücel, Murat Dinçer, Ayşe Batumlu, İbrahim Kalı, Sezgin Tanrıkulu, Ali Rıza Kılıç and Yıldız İmre were at the trial, too.
As observers, Feray Salman and Hüseyin Öndes for the Joint Platform for Human Rights (İHOP), Mihdi Perinçek as the Human Rights Association (İHD) representative for the Eastern and Southeastern regions, Kadri Salaz as the board member of Helsinki Citizens Assembly (HYD) and a representative from the German embassy are following the hearing.“Gürler blamed Emre Günaydın, too”
During the recess, Ali Koç, one of the joint attorneys from İzmir Bar, summarized the process to Bianet and said that nothing worth mentioning happened regarding Gürler’s interrogation.
Answering the questions during the hearing, Gürler, too, blamed Emre Günaydın, as Yıldırım and Özdemir before him did. Claiming that they participated in the murder because they were afraid of Günaydın, Gürler said that he did not tie the hands of the victims and he did not use a knife. According to Gürler as well, Günaydın did everything.
Mentioning that everyone participates and must participate in evening worships in İhlas student dormitory, Gürler explained his March 21, 2007 cell phone message “You did not come to the class, are you in the police station again?” as a joke that he sometimes played on his friends.
Emre Günaydın, of whom the suspects are afraid, will be heard
Gürler repeated what he said before: “Emre Günaydın was someone who used force from time to time. He would say that his brother was with Sedat Peker [a famous mobster], his uncles were respected mafia types and they would even arrange a special presidential pardon for him, if he was ever in jail.”
In the afternoon hearing, the court was planning to start the interrogation of Emre Günaydın. The hearing was expected to last until the late evening hours. (EÖ/GG/TB)
