The Beyoglu 7th Court of First Instance has decreed that there is a possibility of "intentional killing" in the case of the death of Nigerian refugee Festus Okey, who died while in detention at the Beyoglu Police Station in central Istanbul. The case has thus been sent to the Beyoglu Heavy Penal Court.
Initially, police officer Cengiz Yildiz was accused of accidentally killing a person, but after the hearing yesterday (26 November), the prosecutor demanded that Yildiz be charged with "intentional killing" and that the case be sent to a heavy penal court.
Okey's family not involved, CHD seeks to join case
The court of first instance had refused the demand of the Modern Lawyers' Association (CHD) to join the case as joint plaintiffs. Serhan Arikanoglu, the CHD Istanbul branch president, told bianet that the association would repeat its demand at the heavy penal court.
Members of the CHD Istanbul have previously made statements on the suspicious nature of Okey's death and the investigation into the death.
Okey's family, which lives in Nigeria, will not be represented, as they have not asked for representation and the Nigerian Consulate has not acted either. Should the CHD not be allowed to join the case, this would mean that only the prosecutor and the judge would be allowed to crossexamine the defendant and witnesses in order to clear up the contradictions currently existing.
Yildiz claims innocence
Bianet was told by lawyers and rights activists attending the hearing what Yildiz said in his defense at the hearing yesterday. Yildiz said that because he worked in a "difficult area" of Istanbul, he carried his gun not in its holster, but in his belt, and that, for the same reason, the bullet was ready in the gun barrel.
He claimed that when he and Festus Okey were alone in the room used for meetings with lawyrs, he realised that Okey was moving to take his gun, that he held the gun handle and Okey the barrel, and that a shot was fired during the scuffle.
Yildiz claimed that he kept his finger away from the trigger because he knew that the bullet was at the mouth of the barrel. When the judge asked how a shot could then be fired, Yildiz was unable to explain.
No gunpowder traces were found on Okey's hand, which, Yildiz said, was possible with a "closed barrel". Asked about one of the most important pieces of evidence, Okey's shirt, which has disappeared, Yildiz said that it might have been cut up and thrown away during the operation in hospital.
Helsinki's Citizens' Charter monitoring case
Özlem Dalkiran, representative of the Refugee Support Programme of the Helsinki Citizens' Charter, said that the organisation would continue to monitor the trial. She expressed the hope that witnesses would speak at the trial and explained that active involvement of Okey's family would be very important.
"It is a positive step that the prosecutor has decided on intentional killing. This shows that the seriousness of the event has been understood better."
However, she was still realistic: "We hope that this does not mean that the case is put on the shelf. We have often seen that with decisions concerning security and spheres of jurisdiction, human rights violations cases have been drawn out."
Mavioglu:Highly suspicious circumstances
Journalist Ertugrul Mavioglu of the "Radikal" newspaper yesterday (26 November), drew attention to the lack of transparency in the case, drawing on information from the CHD.