MURDER IN ANATOLIA - European Stability Initiative - ESI

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gun, rope and gloves in the trunk. I asked what these were and what they were for. He
said that he was going to use them to frighten them and that I didn‟t need to worry.” 120
Abuzer testified that “Emre said that on Monday we would go to Zirve Publishing, that we
would get information from the missionaries there, and then go to Wolfgang [Hade] in Konya
to resolve their links to the PKK.” 121 The suspects‟ testimony in court, however, was at odds
with their earlier statements. Shortly after their arrest in April 2007, Hamit had told
prosecutors:
“I understood from what Emre told us that his fight against this group would be very
decisive and if needed would continue until death or until they would be eliminated …
He said that after killing the missionaries in Malatya, the actual goal was killing
Wolfgang [Hade], and that he would do this on his own if necessary. He added that doing
this would bring us great financial benefits … From time to time Emre told us about his
plans how to kill and eliminate the missionaries. We wanted to eliminate this harmful
group because of our love towards our country and nation.” 122
d. “I was afraid of the powers behind him”
The other four suspects all described Emre as extremely aggressive. As Cuma put it, Emre
intimidated everyone from the very outset:
“We told [Emre] that we would not accept his offer and that we had come to Malatya to
study. He told us there was no turning back; otherwise he would put a bullet in our head
and kill our families. He said we would die. He threatened us. I never saw him with a
gun, but he carried a knife. It was a small knife with a wooden handle. Emre spoke
harshly and yelled.” 123
They also described Emre as someone who enjoyed close connections to the local police.
Hamit told the court:
“If I had not accepted his invitation, I thought he would have harmed me and my
family … We thought about going to the police because of what Emre had told us. But
Salih told me that Emre was closely acquainted with the police director. That‟s why we
didn‟t do it.” 124
All suspects told the court about Emre‟s immunity from police scrutiny prior to the murder.
Abuzer told prosecutors that he “did not dare to inform the police because Emre was close to
the police director and got help with the knife stabbing incident.” 125 He was referring to an
event in February 2007, which Salih described during the fifth court hearing:
“Emre once came to us after having stabbed a man he saw together with his girlfriend.
He told us about the stabbing. He quickly changed clothes, went to the barber to get a
shave and took me and Cuma with him to the Sumer police station. There he talked at the
door with a policeman. He went inside and came out soon. Then he came over to us. The
120 Protocol of the 5 th Court Hearing, 14 April 2008, p. 3.
121 Protocol of the 5 th Court Hearing, 14 April 2008, p. 5.
122 Malatya Indictment, pp. 11-12.
123 Protocol of the 5 th Court Hearing, 14 April 2008, p. 2.
124 Protocol of the 2 nd Court Hearing, 14 January 2008, p. 12.
125 Protocol of the 5 th Court Hearing, 14 April 2008, p. 13.
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