REPORT: SUSPECT LIABLE FOR MISCONDUCT IN BALıKcı CASE
BIAnet.org
Sept 13 2012
Turkey
The expert report on the death of Turkish-Armenian soldier Sevag
Balıkcı found suspect Kıvanc Agaoglu responsible for engaging in
wrongful conduct. The court also accepted the plaintiffs' demands to
send evidence materials to the Forensics Institute.
Ekin KARACA
The expert report that arrived in the Diyarbakır Second Air Force
Command Court Martial on the death of Turkish-Armenian soldier Sevag
Balıkcı found suspect Kıvanc Agaoglu responsible for wrongful
conduct, plaintiff lawyer Cem Halavurt told bianet.
Agaoglu had shot Balıkcı dead on April 24, 2011 while they were
both performing their mandatory military service.
The court martial in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır also
accepted the Balıkcı family's demands for evidence material to be
sent back to the Forensics Insitute during the eigth hearing of the
trial on Friday, as well as their request for the court to listen
to eyewitnesses.
"The report prepared by Capt. Murat Yazgan from the Land Forces is
in our favor. The report indicates that Agaoglu should have never
switched on his rifle's safety lock and stresses that he had acted
wrongfully," lawyer Halavurt said.
The court decided to adjourn the next hearing for Nov. 5, 2012.
"We had requested the file to be sent back to the Forensics Insitute
due to the confusion about [Sevag's] clothes. Our request was granted.
Moreover, [the court] also accepted our demand to for them to hear
eyewitness," he added.
Officials had examined Sevag's clothes during the hearing on July
2, but Sevag's father Garabet Balıkcı had claimed the clothes in
question did not belong to his son.
"He was not in the habit of wearing an undershirt. We are in doubt
as to whether the clothes really belong to him or not. If my son was
taken to hospital after he was wounded, then [medical staff] would
have torn his clothes apart during emergency treatment. None of the
clothes have been torn, however," Garabet Balıkcı had said.
Lawyer Halavurt had then requested that the clothes be sent back to the
Forensics Institute for re-examination along with all other evidence
materials, and the chief judge had said they were going to issue a
decision on the matter following the arrival of the expert report.
Suspect Agaoglu's lawyer also requested a ban on the publication of
news about the case on the grounds that the issue had wrongly begun
to acquire political dimensions, but the court rejected his demand
during Friday's hearing.
"Agaoglu's relative Bulent Kaya had attempted to influence the
witnesses. [Officials then] took his testimony as well. We had already
filed a complaint after he gave his testimony... The judge responded
that this issue would be settled in the next hearing due to the change
in the composition of the court delegation," Halavurt also said. (EKN)
http://www.bianet.org/english/human-rights/140838-report-suspect-liable-for-misconduct-in-turkish-armenian-soldiers-death
BIAnet.org
Sept 13 2012
Turkey
The expert report on the death of Turkish-Armenian soldier Sevag
Balıkcı found suspect Kıvanc Agaoglu responsible for engaging in
wrongful conduct. The court also accepted the plaintiffs' demands to
send evidence materials to the Forensics Institute.
Ekin KARACA
The expert report that arrived in the Diyarbakır Second Air Force
Command Court Martial on the death of Turkish-Armenian soldier Sevag
Balıkcı found suspect Kıvanc Agaoglu responsible for wrongful
conduct, plaintiff lawyer Cem Halavurt told bianet.
Agaoglu had shot Balıkcı dead on April 24, 2011 while they were
both performing their mandatory military service.
The court martial in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır also
accepted the Balıkcı family's demands for evidence material to be
sent back to the Forensics Insitute during the eigth hearing of the
trial on Friday, as well as their request for the court to listen
to eyewitnesses.
"The report prepared by Capt. Murat Yazgan from the Land Forces is
in our favor. The report indicates that Agaoglu should have never
switched on his rifle's safety lock and stresses that he had acted
wrongfully," lawyer Halavurt said.
The court decided to adjourn the next hearing for Nov. 5, 2012.
"We had requested the file to be sent back to the Forensics Insitute
due to the confusion about [Sevag's] clothes. Our request was granted.
Moreover, [the court] also accepted our demand to for them to hear
eyewitness," he added.
Officials had examined Sevag's clothes during the hearing on July
2, but Sevag's father Garabet Balıkcı had claimed the clothes in
question did not belong to his son.
"He was not in the habit of wearing an undershirt. We are in doubt
as to whether the clothes really belong to him or not. If my son was
taken to hospital after he was wounded, then [medical staff] would
have torn his clothes apart during emergency treatment. None of the
clothes have been torn, however," Garabet Balıkcı had said.
Lawyer Halavurt had then requested that the clothes be sent back to the
Forensics Institute for re-examination along with all other evidence
materials, and the chief judge had said they were going to issue a
decision on the matter following the arrival of the expert report.
Suspect Agaoglu's lawyer also requested a ban on the publication of
news about the case on the grounds that the issue had wrongly begun
to acquire political dimensions, but the court rejected his demand
during Friday's hearing.
"Agaoglu's relative Bulent Kaya had attempted to influence the
witnesses. [Officials then] took his testimony as well. We had already
filed a complaint after he gave his testimony... The judge responded
that this issue would be settled in the next hearing due to the change
in the composition of the court delegation," Halavurt also said. (EKN)
http://www.bianet.org/english/human-rights/140838-report-suspect-liable-for-misconduct-in-turkish-armenian-soldiers-death