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Two members of the Şenyaşar family, mother Emine and son Ferit, have been holding a silent vigil continuously for 500 days in front of the courthouse in Turkey’s southeastern Şanlıurfa (Riha) province to demand justice for their loved ones who were killed in an altercation with a ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy’s family ahead of the 2018 presidential elections.
The killings occurred after an argument broke out in the Şenyaşar family shop with the security guards and relatives of İbrahim Halil Yıldız, an MP from the ruling AKP who was visiting the area as part of an election hustings. Shots were fired and the fight continued to the local hospital where members of the Şenyaşar family who were injured were reportedly followed to the hospital and murdered by security guards and family members of the AKP MP.
Human rights associations, lawyers, activists and party members joined the 500th anniversary protest mark the day and to support the Şenyaşar family members.
Although the group was by surrounded and intimidated by Turkish state forces, they nonetheless issued a press statement together with the Şenyaşar family.
The silent, dignified justice vigil of the Şenyaşar family, which has been continuing for 500 days, has not been broken despite all the obstructions of the authorities, the judicial violence and physical and psychological attacks on the family members, said lawyer Meral Halat, co-chair of the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD) in Şanlıurfa.
“Crimes committed by public officials who have the backing of the ruling power in Turkey are defined here as ‘unsolved murders’,” she added. “This case is a result of a policy of impunity that has been going on for years.”
Halat read Şenyaşar family’s demands in the silent vigil.
She explained that they wanted to end the unlawfulness and negligence in the hospital file, where the murders took place and demanded that a legal process be initiated against all those responsible for the theft of hospital images from the CCTV, she said.
They also demand the removal of a confidentiality clause in the investigation file, she added.
They request the initiation of the necessary legal process for the fair continuation of the trial against Fadıl Şenyaşar who was given a disproportionate prison sentence for his actions during the attacks against the family.
Ferit Şenyaşar translated his mother Emine Şenyaşar’s statements after the demands read.
“My mother says that her two children were lynched and murdered, along with her husband, she adds that one of her children is also imprisoned illegally,” he said.
He added that she says that until justice is served, she will not leave the silent justice vigil even after death.
