MURDER IN ANATOLIA - European Stability Initiative - ESI

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to him sat the two state prosecutors who had put together the 47-page indictment, submitted
on 5 October 2007.
According to the indictment, the victims died as a result of severe wounds caused by a sharp
object, which resulted in perforation of veins, arteries and internal organs, as well as internal
and external bleeding. One of them, Necati Aydin, was also strangled with a rope. 95
Seven people were indicted at first. The indictment considered the five main suspects as
having formed an “armed terrorist organization.” 96 All five – Emre, Salih, Hamit, Cuma and
Abuzer – were charged with “killing more than one person in the framework of the terror
organization‟s activities.” 97 Emre was additionally charged with being the organization‟s
leader and founder. 98 The prosecutors demanded a triple life sentence in solitary confinement
with no possibility of parole for each of the five main suspects. 99
Two other people were indicted but not arrested. One was Kursat Kocadag, who had kept a
gun for Emre. Kocadag was supposed to take part in the raid but, as he claimed, had pulled
out four months before the murders. 100 In his testimony Kocadag notes that Emre was telling
people “that they [Christians] planned to kill three out of five children and that he [Emre]
would kill them after getting to know them better. When he asked whether I would be part of
that, I said no.” 101 The seventh accused was Mehmet Gokce, who was allegedly meant to
copy the hard drive of the computer from the Zirve office. Kursat Kocadag and Mehmet
Gokce were both charged with abetting a terrorist organisation. 102
At the opening hearing the seven defendants sat in front of the judges, accompanied by the
gendarmerie. The defendants‟ lawyers were initially all from Malatya and assigned by the
court. Behind the accused sat friends and relatives of the victims, journalists, national and
international observers, and diplomatic representatives.
There were also 17 lawyers representing the victims‟ families. 103 The Association of
Protestant Churches had approached a number of lawyers known for their commitment to
minority rights. The legal team assembled in Malatya turned into a who‟s who of Turkish
human rights defenders. There was Orhan Kemal Cengiz, the legal advisor of the Protestant
Association and a columnist for Turkish daily Zaman and English-language Today’s Zaman,
who came from Ankara. Sezgin Tanrikulu came from Diyarbakir, where he had defended
Kurdish victims of human rights abuses. Ergin Cinmen and Erdal Dogan, who represented
the Dink family in the Hrant Dink murder trial, came from Istanbul. So did Fethiye Cetin,
95 Malatya Indictment, p. 36.
96 Malatya Indictment, p. 41.
97 Malatya Indictment, p. 2.
98 Malatya Indictment, pp. 2-5.
99 Malatya Indictment, pp. 43-44.
100 Malatya Indictment, p. 32.
101 Malatya Indictment, p. 14.
102 Malatya Indictment, p. 44.
103 The lawyers were Ibrahim Kali, Oya Aydin, Murat Dincer, Ali Koc, Ergin Cinmen, Orhan Kemal Cengiz,
Nalan Erken, Abdulkaidr Gulec, Sezgin Tanrikulu, Tahir Elci, Ozkan Dogan, Fethiye Cetin, Ismail Cem
Halavurdu, Hafize Cobanoglu, Erdal Dogan, Serhat Eren, Ayse Batumlu. According to Turkish Article 236 and
237 of the Turkish Penal Code law any person who has been damaged by a crime can participate in the trial as
co-plaintiffs for civil claims, such as compensation. See:
http://www.justice.gov.tr/basiclaws/Criminal_Code.pdf.
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