ADANA - Seriously ill prisoner Mehmet Emin Özkan was not released despite the "relegation" decision in the Lice Massacre case.

 

The 30th hearing of the retrial case of ill prisoner Mehmet Emin Özkan, who was associated with the murder of Brigadier General Bahtiyar Aydın in 1993 in Lice district of Diyarbakır, was held at Adana 7th High Criminal Court. Özkan could not attend the hearing due to a problem in the Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS) from Diyarbakır No. 1 High Security Closed Prison, where he was detained. Özkan's son Ahmet Özkan, lawyers of the Human Rights Association (İHD) Adana Branch Yasemin Dora Şeker, Yakup Ataş, Cahit Atak and Tugay Bek were present in the courtroom.

 

The prosecutor demanded the continuation of Özkan's execution.

 

REQUEST FOR RELEASE

 

Expressing that the client's trial was held in pre-trial detention for years, his detention turned into a convict upon the finalization of the decision, but since the prosecution continued from where it was left off with the retrial decision, Şeker said: My client was now taken to the title of detention since the evidence search began. In Turkey, it is no longer legal and equitable to treat the accused, who is detained with the decision of retrial, as a convict and not to suspend his execution. First of all, we request the release of the client due to legal obligation. For all these reasons and with the reasons we have stated in all our written and oral defenses in the file, and with all the available evidence, we demand that the release of the client Mehmet Emin Özkan be stopped and released, and that the evidence in the file will be acquitted, since sufficient evidence has been collected."

 

REJECTION TO STOPPING EXECUTION

 

The court decided to wait for the ATK report and to continue Özkan's execution, adjourning the hearing to November 9.