Turkish trial resumes 5 years after murder of Kurdish human rights lawyer

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - The Turkish trial of three police officers accused of killing prominent human rights lawyer Tahir Elçi five years ago resumed on Wednesday morning at a Heavy Penal Court in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir (Amed).

On Nov. 28, 2015, the former head of Diyarbakir Bar Association was shot in the head shortly after giving a statement at a press conference during a street shootout between plainclothes police officers in plainclothes and suspected members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) linked Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement (YDG-H) in the historic Sur district of the Kurdish majority city.

For 5 years Tahir Elçi's family & friends have pushed for justice. The human rights movement will be focused on whether the conduct of the trial is designed to reveal the full circumstances of Elçi’s killing or instead to exonerate the police at all cost. https://t.co/gflbplLHCN

— Emma Sinclair-Webb (@esinclairwebb) October 21, 2020

Initially, the police officers who were involved in the shootout were brought as witnesses and not as potential suspects.

A 2019 report by a forensic research organization concluded that Tahir Elçi was most likely killed by the police officers at the scene. 

Read More: Kurdish lawyer likely killed by Turkish police: Investigation 

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Diyarbakir prosecutor accuses three police officers, Mesut Sevgi, Fuat Tan, and Sinan Tabur, of killing Elçi and charges them with “causing death by foreseeable negligence.” If convicted, they could face two to nine years in prison. 

Furthermore, charges against PKK fighter Uğur Yakışır, tried in absentia, include intentional killing of police officers Cengiz Erdur and Ahmet Çiftaslan, as well as for the foreseeable intentional killing of Elçi. 

“Almost five years after the bullet that killed Tahir Elçi was fired, there is hope that the person who pulled the trigger will finally face justice. Tahir Elçi worked to help victims of human rights violations get justice, campaigning for an end to violence and respect for the rights of the Kurdish people,” said Milena Buyum, from Amnesty International.

Tom Porteous, deputy program director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), also said in a public statement that for five years family and friends of Elçi have pushed for an effective investigation and for his killers to be brought to justice.

“Many in the human rights movement in Turkey and internationally will be focused on whether the conduct of the trial is designed to reveal the full circumstances of Elçi’s killing or instead to try to exonerate the police at all cost,” HRW’s Tom Porteous said.

“A gaping wound has opened in society’s consciousness when a lawyer who believed in the struggle against war and violence was gunned down in full view of everyone,” Türkan Elçi, Tahir Elçi’s widow, told Amnesty International.

“Although the prosecution has been delayed by five years, we remain hopeful that justice will be done. We have not given up on our belief in the law.”

The killing of the Elci sparked outrage among the Kurds and the opposition in Turkey and led to a series of condemnations by leaders, including Masoud Barzani, then-President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Editing by John J. Catherine