There has been a significant development in the case of former Diyarbakır Bar Association chair Tahir Elçi, who was murdered in Turkey on 26 November 2015, Yeni Yaşam reports. The second hearing of Elçi’s murder case is due to be held on 3 March.
London University’s Forensic Architecture Department has prepared a report that has examined the photos that were taken by journalists at the crime scene at the time the murder took place. According to the examinations made, the report has detected three members of the police being perpetrators of the crime, with one one of them being a “certain perpetrator”.
That report had been presented to Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. After four years of investigation, being tried are police members ‘M.S.’, ‘F.T.’, ‘S.T.’ and a Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) member Uğur Yakışır. The members of the police have not yet been arrested and Uğur Yakışır has been identified as a “fugitive defendant” in the indictment.
The prosecutor has demanded two to six years for the members of the police on the charge of ‘causing death by conscious negligence’ and ‘three times aggravated life imprisonment and 45 years in prison’ for PKK member Yakışır on charges of murdering Elçi by “eventual intent” and also for “killing two police members and destroying the unity and integrity of the country” and also attempting to kill police member ‘S.T.’ whilst possessing “weapons without permission”.
#TahirElçi davasının ikinci duruşması 3 Mart’ta görülecek. Fakat iddianamede bir sorun var. Saptadığımız polis memurlarının yanı sıra PKK üyelerinden biri de Elçi’nin katil sanığı olarak gösteriliyor. Oysa bulgularımız PKK üyelerinin Elçi’ye ateş etmediğini açıkça göstermişti. pic.twitter.com/EoqxVEVdWG
— Forensic Architecture (@ForensicArchi) February 25, 2021
London University’s Forensic Architecture Department shared a post in the Turkish language on social media and referred to the second hearing of the case, whilst noting that the evidence it provided openly indicated that PKK member Yakışır did not shoot Tahir Elçi.
