URFA - Emine Şenyaşar, who was on trial for allegedly insulting AKP's İbrahim Yıldız, asked the judge, "Who killed my children?"

 

Emine Şenyaşar, whose husband and two sons were killed by the bodyguards and relatives of AKP MP İbrahim Halil Yıldız on June 14, 2018 in the Suruç district of Urfa, came to court on the grounds that she "insulted and slandered" AKP member Yıldız. In the first hearing of the case heard at the Urfa 4th Criminal Court of First Instance due to the words she said on the 157th day of her sit-in, women, political party and democratic mass organisation representatives did not leave Şenyaşar alone. Dozens of lawyers, members of the Urfa Peace Mothers Council, People's Democratic Party (HDP) Urfa Provincial administrators and members of the Urfa Labor and Democracy Platform, as well as dozens of citizens attended the hearing.

 

Before the hearing started, the president of the court stated that the hearing was an "insult" case and asked not to go beyond this but the family's lawyers objected to the judge's request. Then, at the hearing that started with identification, Emine Şenyaşar was asked by the clerk how many children Emine Şenyaşar has, then Emine Şenyaşar said that they killed her two sons and arrested one of them. Then, the accusation was conveyed to Şenyaşar through a translator. Stating that she was barely alive with medicine, Şenyaşar said: "I had 7 children and they wanted to kill them all. They killed my husband and 2 sons in the hospital. My children were murdered before my eyes."

 

'WHAT KIND OF STATE IS THIS?'

 

The president of the court, who intervened, asked Şenyaşar to tell him why she insulted Yıldız, and told her not to talk about the murder. However, Şenyaşar continued to talk about what she went through and she rejected the accusation of "insult and slander" and said: "People should not be killed in the hospital. They stole the hospital's surveillence video records. I will not forgive them. Who killed my children? What kind of state is this, what kind of government is this?”

 

'WE WANT AN IMPARTIAL EXPERT TRANSLATOR'

 

One of the family's lawyers, Ayşe Şehriban Demirel said: "There are loads of cases of insult, but there are precedents. Şenyaşar's two sons and her husband were murdered in the hospital. The hospital file has not been opened for 4 years and the evidence is being tried to be spoiled. The family started the sit-in and it has been going on for 557 days. Emine Şenyaşar is exposed to both physical and legal violence during the sit-in. The family continues their struggle for justice despite obstacles."

 

Stating that the law suit was filed against her client only through a video,Demirel said: "We want the video to be sent to an expert. We want a translator who speaks Kurdish. The translator is not sufficient. He is the prosecutor's clerk and we do not trust his translation. We want an impartial expert translator. We will provide the file with the witness who was present on the day of the incident. The missing points in the file should be remediated."

 

'THERE IS NO ELEMENT OF A CRIME'

 

İHD Urfa Branch President Mustafa Vefa stated that they did not accept the evidence against Şenyaşar and noted that there was no criminal element. Vefa stated that there was no "insult" in Şenyaşar's words and there were 3 MPs in Urfa under the name of İbrahim and that they would make a detailed defense later.

 

NEXT HEARING WAS POSTPONED TO THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE SIT-IN 

 

After announcing the decision, the court board postponed the next hearing to March 9, when the family started the sit-in. The next hearing will be held on March 9, 2023.

 

'JUDICIAL VIOLENCE CONTINUES'

 

After the hearing, the family's lawyers and supporters made a statement in front of the courthouse. Stating that the judicial violence that Emine Şenyaşar faced in her struggle for justice continued with lawsuits, Ayşe Şehriban Demirel, one of the family's lawyers said: "15 different investigations were opened against Emine Şenyaşar and 4 of them turned into lawsuits. The family demands a fair trial. We witness and support the family's struggle for justice. We declare once again that we will always be with the family.”