Emine Şenyaşar and her son Ferit Şenyaşar have been continuing a justice vigil in front of the Urfa (Riha) Court House for 241 days, demanding justice for their family members.
Emine’s husband, Hacı Esvet Şenyaşar, and two of their sons, Adil and Celal, died in an armed attack by bodyguards and relatives of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) MP for Urfa, İbrahim Halil Yıldız, in 2018.
They say they are determined to follow the case through and they are demanding that the perpetrators be punished. They have been beaten, abused, and detained several times for the vigil they have been continuing.
Today, on 4 November, once more they were preparing to come to the court to continue their vigil. However, Emine Şenyaşar’s blood pressure dropped and she was taken to hospital first. She then came to the front of Urfa courthouse with an intravenous drip attached to her arm to continue her vigil but the police thought that she was ‘acting’ and she was attacked by police while there was an IV-drip attached to her arm.
The police forced her to go to the hospital, but she insisted that she wanted to meet with the prosecutor of the file of the murder. Emine Senyaşar and Ferit Senyaşar entered the courthouse to meet with the prosecutor, but could not meet with him, again.
Immediately after coming from the courthouse, Ferit Senyaşar issued a press statement. Ferit was angered by the treatment his mother experienced.
“A mother has been waiting for justice at the courthouse door in Urfa for eight months. We’ve been trying to meet with the chief prosecutor here for eight months. Friends have witnessed here that the chief prosecutor is running away from us. Here, the mother is waiting for justice
“She’s lost eight kilos in eight months. We came here from the hospital. This mother is suffering this persecution. Bar Presidents, Bar Associations, shame on you!”
He showed the medicine his mother takes and asked, “Are these medicines just for acting?”
“These officials, who have lost their humanity, say that my mother is acting. These are all my mother’s medicines. These are all reports. Let’s see your mother sit for a week here, let alone for eight months. As long as this mother sits here, no one talks about justice. Enough. My mother doesn’t want to die here. Let there be a solution to this injustice.”