DENİZ POYRAZ CASE
Judgeship rejects further prosecution to reveal 'organization' behind HDP assailant
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An application by the lawyer of the family of Deniz Poyraz, a worker of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) who was killed in an armed attack on the party's İzmir provincial office last year, to further investigate the "organized aspect" of the attack has been rejected.
The İzmir Penal Judgeship of Peace rejected the application, stating that "evidence had been sufficiently collected and there was no need for further prosecution," Mezopotamya Agency (MA) reported.
Lawyer Türkan Aslan-Ağaç said "no elements in the petition" they had submitted was taken into consideration, adding, "Our request was rejected with abstract and ambiguous statements."
"After the attack, the İzmir Provincial Security Directorate concluded that there was no need to prosecute Onur Gencer, the assailant, as per the Anti Terror Law No. 3713.
"After the Security Directorate notified us about this decision, we filed an appeal with the İzmir Penal Judgeship of Peace. However, a decision was given about the rejection of our request as well.
"Thus, they expect us to accept that Onur Gencer committed this political murder alone. But we are considering taking this decision to the Constitutional Court. If the Constitutional Court does not give a verdict of violation regarding an effective investigation, we will take it to the European Court of Human Rights."
What happened?Onur Gencer stormed the HDP's İzmir provincial office on June 17 and shot party worker Deniz Poyraz dead. His social media posts revealed that he was a sympathizer of the nationalist Grey Wolves group. The indictment prepared by the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor's Office included the finding that Gencer had confessed his crime in the WhatsApp messages after the attack and when leaving the building. However, according to the indictment, "no one who aided before, during or after the incident or no one who incited the defendant could be found and no evidence could be obtained that he had anny connections with a terrorist organization before or after the incident." The indictment also to the assailant's "diagnosis with anxiety disorder and mild depressive episodes" in 2016. Gencer's statement to the police that "My purpose was to harm the PKK. I began searching for the families who supported the PKK. I found the family selling coal in Bayraklı on the internet." According to the statement he had initially planned to attack the family at their shop on December 31, 2020, but later gave up on the plan after they told him over the phone that they would close the shop earlier than usual due to the new year's eve. Gencer's statements that he had decided to attack the HDP one day before the incident and that he had shot Poyraz in the head to make sure she died were also in the indictment. It was also stated in the indictment that Gencer, who stated that he called the phone numbers in the HDP Provincial Building when he came to reconnaissance to carry out a planned attack, but could not reach anyone, decided to attack the day before the incident. The prosecution demanded an aggravated life imprisonment for Gencer on the charge of "premeditated wilful killing" and up to 7 years in prison on charges of "violating the immunity of workplace" and "damaging the buildings, facilities or property of the political parties or professional organizations." |
(RT/VK)