The 6th hearing of the case filed against 30 people, 4 of whom are detained, regarding the attack on the Şenyaşar family by the bodyguards and relatives of former AKP Deputy İbrahim Halil Yıldız in Pirsûs (Suruç) district of Riha on 14 June 2018, Malatya 3rd High Criminal Court Seen in. Prisoner Fadıl Şenyaşar attended the hearing via Audio and Video Information System (SEGBİS) from Elazığ Prison, where he has been held for approximately 6 years. Other defendants Enver Yıldız, Mekail Şimşek and Celal Yıldız were also present at the hearing via SEGBİS from the prisons where they were detained.

 

Mother Emine Şenyaşar, who has been holding the Justice Watch in front of the Ministry of Justice for months for the release of her prisoner son Fadıl, and Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Riha (Urfa) Deputy Ferit Şenyaşar, who survived the attack injured, attended the hearing. Şenyaşar family lawyers, DEM Party Legal Commission Co-Spokesperson Sevda Çelik Özbingöl and lawyers from legal organizations were also present in the hearing room.

 

WITNESSES TOLD WHAT HAPPENED

 

After identification, witnesses were heard first at the hearing. Gökhan Serdal, one of the witnesses, said: "Some time has passed since the incident. I repeat my previous statement. I was working in the gendarmerie in Urfa when the incident occurred. We held the emergency door of the hospital. I saw a person whose name I do not know being beaten with an oxygen tank. I was in front of the men's observation room, in front of the emergency door. At that time, I also heard gunshots from the women observer. He came out with a black gun in his hand. There is someone who witnessed this incident firsthand. Again, I witnessed people I did not know blocking the ambulance and attacking it with stones and sticks. I was behind the law enforcement officer when they hit him right in the nose. The Governor and Fakıbaba came there. We were trying to get the deceased out. I was in the hospital until the events calmed down." 

 

The court panel reminded Serdal's statements at the police station. The court asked Serdal about his police statement that he did not hear a gunshot. Serdal said: "We made the statement very hastily while giving the statement there."

 

'CLEANING WAS DONE IN THE PLACE WHERE THE MASSACRE WAS CARRIED OUT'

 

Lawyer Sevda Çelik Özbingöl asked about the witness's statement that "when I arrived, cleaning was being done inside." Serdal said: "The crime scene was not investigated, but hospital cleaning personnel were cleaning."

 

Lawyer Bület Duran then asked in which department the cleaning was done. Serdal noted that the cleaning was done in the male observation room where the armed conflict took place.

 

Serdal then identified the prisoners defendants via SEGBİS.

 

 

WITNESS: THEY TRIED TO CUT HIS THROAT WITH GLASS

 

Then, one of the witnesses, Emine Kılınç, was heard. Stating that he was an x-ray technician at Suruç State Hospital, Kılınç said: "I was on duty that day. The injured came after the afternoon. A few injured people came from the Yıldız family. Süleyman Yıldız was injured, we picked him up and when we got downstairs the emergency was already very complicated. They brought Celal Şenyaşar. When they saw the other party, they took him to another room. They brought the other injured people to the male observation section. Then we heard gunshots once again. They did not allow us to intervene while we were in resuscitation. They brought 3 more injured people to the women's observation room. We learned that they were from the Şenyaşar family. They brought Adil, Ferit and Muhammed Şenyaşar. While Adil Şenyaşar was being taken away, Yıldız supporters tried to cut his neck with glass. Just as he was being taken to the stretcher and put into the ambulance, we heard gunshots and we lay down on the ground."

 

Following the judge's questions, the diagnosis was made via SEGBİS. Hidayet Enmek, one of the family lawyers, objected to the diagnosis via SEGBİS.

 

ANNE ŞENYAŞAR: I WILL CONTINUE MY ACTION

 

Speaking at the hearing, mother Emine Şenyaşar demanded the release of her son Fadıl and said: "Let my son go and let's go back home. Otherwise, I will continue my protest in Ankara."

 

Ferit Şenyaşar said: "I am glad that the mother does not speak Turkish every time. Because we still have not expressed our condolences and we have been experiencing the same pain over and over again while listening to the witnesses in every hearing for 6 years. If the prisoner (Fadıl) is released, we will go to our house and express our condolences. There is a mother here whose entire family was dispersed, and one of her sons is innocent. This mother has been waiting for her child for 6 years. Fadıl's daughter was 6 months old and now she is 6 years old and still waiting for her father."

 

The prosecutor requested the defendants' continued detention.

 

FADIL ŞENYAŞAR: THOSE WHO DID MASSACRE ARE OUTSIDE

 

Defending against the opinion, Fadıl Şenyaşar said: "How are the defendants' lawyers presenting images that we have not been able to access for 6 years? If there are other images, why are they not presented? Lawyer Mehmet Doğan says I fired two shots on the right side. My family was being attacked everywhere, I fired a shot to disperse them. If the gun had already been found, this would have been revealed. But they neither found nor delivered this weapon. If the district police chief had not turned a blind eye, this massacre would not have happened. One of them turned a blind eye, the other took camera footage so that it would not be obvious that what was happening there was happening right in front of his eyes. The facts we know are greater than their slanders. The real perpetrator of these is İbrahim Halil Yıldız. But he made a statement and walked away. They also deleted the footage showing them running away from the shops. Those who committed the massacre and those who instigated it are outside."

 

 

DEFENDANT YILDIZ TARGETED THE JUSTICE WATCH

 

Enver Yıldız, one of the prisoner defendants, claimed that he came to Pirsus from Mersin on leave on the day of the incident and went to the shop when he received news of the attack. Yıldız targeted Emine Şenyaşar's Justice Watch and said, "Who will answer for the 4 people who were shot? If there was justice, I would not be in this prison."

 

FADIL'S RELEASE WAS REQUESTED

 

Defending lawyer Özbingöl said: "Long detention within the scope of a fair trial is a violation of rights. We demand that the client's 6-year prisoner, which exceeds legal limits, be taken into consideration and he be released."

 

Recalling the witness statements, lawyer Hidayet Enmek said: “No one would create this incident for no reason. Everyone was doing their own thing, there was going to be a holiday the next day. I'm speaking for Fadil; He learns that his siblings were attacked. He goes to work and sees his brothers being beaten with iron sticks and being targeted and shot with a gun. While this attack should have been considered within the scope of self-defense from the very beginning, we have been trying to express this in these court hearings for 6 years. If Fadıl had not gone there, Ferit Şenyaşar would have lost his life too. Mehmet Şah is trying to shoot them with a gun in his hand. No one was prosecuted for not allowing public personnel to perform work, damaging public property, or assaulting public personnel. We want our client to be released."

 

EVIDENCE HAS BEEN BLACKED

 

Bülent Duran, one of the lawyers of the Şenyaşar family, stated that the attack on the Şenyaşar family was a "crime against humanity". Pointing out that no evidence was detected, Duran said: “We see something terrible here. Not only family members but also justice were murdered. There, the walls were not only washed and cleaned, they were painted. There, oxygen cylinders are taken out of the warehouse, there is no find on them. Oxygen hangers were mentioned. They come for the insane on the 20th of the 6th month of the massacre. Witness evidence and biological evidence were obscured. Even though there were images, the court misread and misjudged this."

 

Duran pointed to the statements of the witnesses and reminded what Celal and Adil experienced when they were brought to the hospital. Duran said: “This is a file where it is clear that there is a right to self-defense. The indictment included statements of 'insidious entry'. This was a legal massacre. The court panel was not supposed to accept this language, but it was accepted and the trial was held with that indictment. The intention is not to kill, but an action to eliminate the attack. The only reason why this file was separated and opened was to arrest Fadıl Şenyaşar. When my client is released, we will continue to seek justice here with him. We want the right to freedom to be restored.”

 

TARGETED HDP MEMBERS

 

Bayram Kuş, one of the defendant's lawyers, "After starting the action under the name of Justice Watch, the state abandoned this file. Why did the state wait for 3 and a half years for these arrests?" he asked.

 

“Mr. Celal was assassinated many times by the PKK. There was a conspiracy against my client. Is Celal's crime for standing up against the PKK? Is my client's only crime being from the Yıldız family?" Bünyamin Çelik, one of the defendant's lawyers, said, targeting the HDP deputies of the period who visited the Şenyaşar family.

 

The court board adjourned the hearing for 40 minutes. The court decided to revoke the arrest warrant issued for the defendant İbrahim Yıldız, who died in the hospital where he was treated in Mersin while he was being searched. The signing ban imposed on defendants who were tried without detention was lifted. The court decided to continue the detention of the other names.

 

The next hearing was postponed to July 12.