Baran Bilici, the lawyer for the families of the two Kurdish villagers who were thrown from a helicopter in the Çatak (Şax) district of Van (Wan), evaluated the statements of government officials regarding their clients as: “Aimed at affecting the confidentiality of the file and the authorities conducting the investigation”.
No progress has been made in the investigation of Osman Şiban and Servet Turgut (who lost his life) who were thrown from a military helicopter after being detained by Turkish soldiers on September 11 in the countryside of Çatak (Şax) district of Van (Wan).
The “confidentiality” order on the file is still not lifted.
Lawyers appealed to the Constitutional Court (AYM) on behalf of the villagers on the grounds of “Freedom to seek remedies and the right to a fair trial being blocked.”
The Republican People’s Party (CHP) İstanbul Deputy and lawyer, Sezgin Tanrıkulu stated that he had received a response from the Minister of National Defense, Hulusi Akar to the question he submited about the victims of the helicopter incident, Osman Şiban and Servet Turgut, on a YouTube channel.
Minister Hulusi Akar replied him by saying ”There is no information, documents or records regarding this in our Ministry”.
”Osman Şiban will give his testimony when he recovers”
Baran Bilici, one of the lawyers of the two villagers, stated that the government officials have violated the confidentiality of the investigation by making official statements. Lawyer Bilici evaluated the statements as “Aiming to influence the authorities conducting the investigation”.
Bilici also noted that due to “confidentiality” within the scope of the investigation, they did not have any information about the person or persons whose testimony has been collected.
Bilici said, “Osman Şiban’s treatment is still continuing. When he recovers, he will give his personal testimony.”
Those accused are the ones collecting the evidence
Noting that cases of law enforcement offenders always resulted in “impunity”, Lawyer Bilici noted that the judicial authorities always protect the perpetrators.
Bilici said, “Almost all of the cases are manipulated from a crime [if the perpertrators are state officials]. It is seen that they receive a very low penalty. Unfortunately, the result is negative in such cases in the region. Because the investigation is conducted in secret, we do not know the content. It may even arise that the law enforcement officer who collected the evidence and the perpetrator is the same person. For this reason, a significant amount of evidence can be tampered with and the investigation may result in non-prosecution “.
