HDP requests special parliamentary session about Tahir Elçi murder

Photo: AA/File

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Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) parliamentary group deputy chairs have submitted a request for a special parliamentary session about the killing of Tahir Elçi, the then chair of the Diyarbakır Bar Association.

No progress has been made in six years in the case concerning the lawyer's killing, Saruhan Oluç and Meral Danış-Beştaş noted in the petition they submitted to the parliament today (November 30).

"It is clear that situations such as the security forces spraying water to the scene of the incident and the prosecutor not carrying out an investigation immediately made it impossible to find perpetrators," said the deputies.

At the time, the government had described the kiling as "a brutal assassination" and promised to find the perpetrators, they said. "However, those who were responsible for the murder could not be found and no progress has been made in the case file."

What happened?

Tahir Elçi attended a live TV program on CNN Türk hosted by Ahmet Hakan on October 15, 2015. Elçi said, "The PKK [Kurdistan Workers Party] is not a terrorist organization." While the channel was fined 700 thousand lira over these words, Tahir Elçi was detained in his office in Diyarbakır Bar Association and taken to İstanbul on November 20.

While the prosecutor's office referred Elçi to court with a request for his arrest, the Bakırköy 2nd Heavy Penal Court released him on probation. A bill of indictment was brought against Elçi on charge of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization." Elçi faced up to 7.5 years in prison.

Diyarbakır Bar Association Chair Tahir Elçi was murdered while making a statement for the press in front of the Four-Legged Minaret in Sur, Diyarbakır on November 28, 2015.

Judicial process

The indictment was lodged by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on March 26, 2020 and accepted by the 10th Heavy Penal Court on April 3, 2020. While there are five complainants, including the wife of late lawyer Türkan Elçi, in the 40-page indictment, there are four accused suspects, among whom are also three police officers.

Police officers S.T., M.S. and F.T. face the charges of "causing death by culpable negligence" as per the Article 85/1 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). The indictment demands 2 to 6 years in prison for the officers.

Uğur Yakışır, the other suspect, also faces the charges of "wilful killing, killing with eventual intent, opposition to Law no. 6136 on Firearms and Knives, disrupting the unity of the state and integrity of the country, damaging property." The indictment demands aggravated life sentence for Yakışır, who is also accused of murdering police officers Cengiz Erdur and Ahmet Çiftaslan, who were killed on the same day with Tahir Elçi. (AS/VK)