‘Possible Perpetrators’ of Tahir Elçi Murder Identified

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Diyarbakır Bar Association made a statement for the press in front of Diyarbakır Courthouse today (December 13).

Bar Association Chair Cihan Aydın announced that the information and documents in the file of the investigation launched into the murder of former Diyarbakır Bar Association Chair Tahir Elçi, who was murdered in Diyarbakır on November 28, 2015, have been analyzed at University of London's Department of Forensic Architecture.

Aydın stated that the possible perpetrators of the Tahir Elçi murder have been identified in the analyses.

"There are one and more than one perpetrators"

Reminding that the documents and information included in the file of the investigation were sent to the university almost two years ago, Aydın announced that the report prepared by the Department of Forensic Architecture of London University was delivered to the Diyarbakır Bar Association yesterday (December 13).

Stating that the Diyarbakır Bar Association will submit the report to the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office along with a petition, Aydın announced that the possible perpetrators of the murder have been identified.

Aydın said, "As it has also been supported by scientific data, for us, there are now one and more than one perpetrators."

What happened?

Tahir Elçi, who was the Chair of Diyarbakır Bar Association, was murdered in front of the Four-Legged Minaret in Sur in Turkey's southeastern province of Diyarbakır on November 28, 2015 during a statement for the press.

Though it has been three years since the murder of Tahir Elçi, the perpetrators have still not been brought to justice.

The investigation into his murder has proceeded as follows:

* Two chief prosecutors and four prosecutors conducting the investigation have been changed so far.

* Four law enforcement officers who were seen to be shooting in the direction of Elçi in the video footages were listened only as witnesses.

* While the examination of the video footages captured by the surveillance cameras of the shops in the vicinity of the scene of incident has remained inconclusive, the fourth camera of the Mardin Kebab House, which was positioned in such a way to capture the murder, "was not working".

* In the video footage captured by the police cameras, there is a 13-second gap, including the moment when Elçi was shot.

* Despite the applications submitted by the attorneys of Elçi family to the Prosecutor's Office, the memory card of the police camera is not found.

* No criminal investigation has been conducted on the weapons of over 30 police officers who were on the street at the time of incident. (AS/SD)