Appeals court finds Interior Ministry negligent in death of citizen during curfew

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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54-year-old Ahmet Sönmez lost his life in the fire opened by special operations police officers on the second day of the curfew declared in Mardin's Nusaybin in southeast Turkey on October 1, 2015.

The Nusaybin Chief Public Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation into the killing of Sönmez. But no progress was made in the investigation over the years. As in the case of several other similar investigations into deaths during the period of curfews in Turkey's Kuridsh-majority regions, the prosecutor investigated Sönmez's "connection with the terrorist organization".

While the investigation was ongoing, the family and lawyers of Sönmez applied to the Mardin Administrative Court and filed a lawsuit for damages against the Ministry of Interior. The Mardin 2nd Administrative Court partly accepted, partly dismissed the suit for damages.

The administrative court argued that during the curfew, Sönmez "was attacked while he was standing in front of the street door."

Arguing that Sönmez violated the curfew, the court claimed that he was negligent in his own death by 50 percent. Reducing the requested amount of damages by half for this reason, the Mardin 2nd Administrative Court ruled that the family of deceased Ahmet Sönmez should be paid 75 thousand lira in pecuniary and 80 thousand lira in non-pecuniary damages.

As reported by Ahmet Kanbal from Mezopotamya Agency (MA), both the family and lawyers of Sönmez and the lawyers of the Interior Ministry appealed against the ruling by applying to the Gaziantep Regional Administrative Court. The family and their lawyers noted that the allegations of negligence on the part of the deceased did not reflect the truth.

As for the lawyers of the Interior Ministry, they argued that "there was no severe neglect of duty" on the part of the Ministry and no pecuniary damages occurred for this reason. The lawyers of the Ministry further claimed that the the pennons in yellow, red and green wrapped around Ahmet Sönmez's coffin "symbolized the terrorist organization". The Ministry demanded the reversal of the verdict on the grounds that Sönmez was "one of the people who aided the terrorist organization".

Appeals court: The Ministry was negligent

In its ruling dated November 11, 2021, the Court of Appeals concluded that Ahmet Sönmez was not negligent.

Referring to the pictures taken at the scene of the incident, it has said, "...it is understood that the deceased was not on the street; the incident happened when he was inside the exterior door of his house and within the boundaries of his residence; thus, he did not violate the curfew."

The court has indicated that the amount of pecuniary damages calculated by the local court was miscalculated and that it accounts for 32 thousand lira when the date of the incident is considered.

Noting that the nine children of Sönmez did not request pecuniary damages, the court has ruled that his spouse and two children, who are indicated as his inheritors, shall be paid 12 thousand 500 lira in pecuniary damages. The court has also ruled that the family shall be paid 105 thousand TRY in non-pecuniary damages in total. (EMK/SD)