Malatya Murders Trial Postponed to 14 April

The fourth hearing in the Malatya Murders case ended with a postponement as the joint attorneys had demanded a recusation of judges.

Erhan Üstündağ

Yesterday (17 March) the fourth hearing in the trial of the murders of three men at the Zirve Publications building in Malatya, eastern Turkey, took place.

Brutal murders last year

Tilman Ekkehart Geske, Necati Aydin and Ugur Yüksel were brutally murdered on 18 April 2007. Four of the detained suspects on trial were caught at the scene: Salih Gürler (aged 20), Abuzer Yildirim (19), Cuma Özdemir (20) and Hamit Ceker. A fifth defendant, Emre Günaydin, jumped out of a third-floor window in the building. After treatment, he, too was arrested.

There are two more suspects. Three of the sentences demanded are life sentences under severe conditions.

Four of the suspects still need to be questioned in court.

Recusation application delayed

The joint attorneys had demanded a new judge for the court. As this demand had not been forwarded to the court, the case was postponed to 14 April.
Joint attorney Ali Koc told bianet that they did not attend the hearing because their request had not been evaluated. They would enter the next hearing.

The court filed a criminal complaint against those officials who caused the delay in passing on the request.

At the last hearing on 25 February, the joint attorneys had complained that documents held at court were being withheld from them. They also demanded a recording of the hearings. When their requests were refused by the court, they applied for a recusation of judges.

The court then ruled that the file be sent to a heavy penal court in Diyarbakir for evaluation.

Focus of case is skewed

Koc further said: “We asked that the third file, which is full of unnecessary information about Christians and Christianity, and personal information about religious beliefs be taken out of the case. However, the court refused that request as well. We believed that the court may be hiding evidence and thus doubted its neutrality. That is why we applied for recusation.”

Lawyer has been targeted

Another joint attorney, Orhan Kemal Cengiz, is under police protection ever since he has been turned into a public target by news items and letters sent to him.

Amnesty International issued an Urgent Action Call on 13 February in which it warned that Cengiz’s life was endangered. (EÜ/GG)