ISIS attack on HDP rally in Diyarbakır | 10 police officers acquitted, 4 sentenced to prison

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Organized by the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in Diyarbakır İstasyon Square ahead of the June 7 general elections in 2015, a rally was targeted in a bomb attack, which claimed the lives of five people.

The court has handed down its ruling in the trial of 14 police officers, including five security directors, over the attack.

As reported by Mezopotamya Agency (MA), the 15th hearing of the trial was attended by only one defendant, namely police officer Mehmet Ali C., who is currently arrested on another charge. C. attended the hearing via the Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS).

The hearing held on Friday (October 8) was also followed by the relatives of the deceased and some injured people as well as the lawyers.

Indicating that "there was not enough room in the court hall", the presiding judge did not allow journalists to follow the hearing.

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Prosecutor demanded penalization of 10 officers

Pronouncing its final opinion as to the accusations, the prosecutor's office stated that the necessary security measures had not been taken in the site where the rally was held and no search was conducted.

Emphasizing that the bomb could have been found if the garbage can at the scene of the first bombing had been searched properly, the prosecutor's office noted that if the bomb had been found, the measures could have been stricter, the second bomb could have also been found by examining the surveillance camera footage and the explosion could have been prevented.

The final opinion of the prosecutor's office also indicated that no search efforts were made in the yard of Farabi Anatolian Religious Vocational (İmam Hatip) High School, where the explosives had been hidden.

Accordingly, the prosecutor's office demanded that defendants Kanbi A., Ali K., Akın D., Murat D., Mefaret S., Fatih D., Mehmet Ali C., Hüseyin Y., Ahmet T. and Hamdi Y. be penalized on the offense charged as per the Articles 257/2 and 53 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) and other defendants Murat İbrahim Y., Mehmet Yasin Ö., Dursun U. and Kerim K. be acquitted.

Lawyers: All defendants should be penalized

Following the final opinion as to the accusations of the prosecutor's office, the court board gave the floor to the families to speak. The families demanded that all defendants be penalized over the incident.

Eylem Timur, a lawyer for the HDP, said that they agreed with the prosecutor's opinion to a certain extent and demanded that all defendants, including the ones whose acquittal was requested, be penalized.

Lawyer Nadide Kurul said that the defendants should be penalized not as per the Articles 257/2 and 53 of the TCK, but as per the Articles 83 (Intentional Killing by Act of Omission) and 89 (Reckless Injury). Accordingly, she reiterated their request for a decision of non-jurisdiction.

10 officers acquitted

Both Mehmet Ali C. and the lawyers of other defendants said that they had not committed the offense charged and demanded their acquittal.

Receiving the last requests, the court board has handed down its ruling and ruled that police officers Kerim K., Dursun U., Hüseyin Y., Hamdi Y., Mehmet Yasin Ö., Ahmet T., Kanbi A., Murat İbrahim Y., Fatih D., and Mehmet Ali C. be acquitted as the legal elements of the offense of "neglect of duty by an act of omission" had not been not constituted.

Police officers Mefaret S., Akın D., Ali K. and Murat D. were first sentenced to 3 months in prison, the lowest limit foreseen for the offense "neglect of duty by an act of omission", then these prison sentences have been reduced to 2 months, 15 days. The court has deferred the announcement of the verdict and ruled that the four defendants shall be subject to the judicial control measures of supervised release for a period of 5 years.

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(KÖ/SD)