The 11 defendants of the Isias Hotel, which collapsed in the earthquakes of February 6, centered in Kahramanmaraş, Adıyaman, and became the grave of a total of 72 people, including 35 Turkish Cypriot athletes and teachers, are starting to be tried for “conscious negligence”.
By Adıyaman 3rd High Criminal Court; Following the acceptance of the indictment on December 2, 2023, demanding a prison sentence of 2 years and 8 months to 22 years and 6 months for the 11 defendants of Isias Hotel, 5 of whom are detained, for “causing the death and injury of more than one person through conscious negligence” The hearing will begin on January 3 and continue until January 5.
Families demanding justice are going to Adıyaman, the city that is the grave of the Champion Angels, with a large delegation, saying that they will follow the case process closely and will not let it go.
Prime Minister Ünal Üstel and his team went to Adıyaman to monitor the cases in which Prime Minister Ünal Üstel was a complainant, as well as the families and close friends of the Champion Meleks who lost their lives in İsias Hotel, members of the investigation committee established on this issue in the Parliament, some MPs, Bar Associations. A large delegation consisting of the President of the Union Hasan Esendağlı and his team of lawyers in Cyprus, the President of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations Erinç Sağkan and his accompanying lawyers will go.
The delegation will depart for Gaziantep tomorrow morning at 08.00 by plane, and after the cases to be discussed on January 3-4-5, they will return to the island on Saturday, January 6 by plane at 10.40.
On behalf of the families, President of the Champion Angels Keeping Alive Association, Ruşen Yücesoylu Karakaya, Pervin Aksoy İpekçioğlu, Feriha Yiğittürk and Murat Aktuğralı and Sena Bundak Topukçuoğlu shared their feelings and thoughts before the start of the hearings and answered the questions of the TAK reporter.
-Black Rock
Ruşen Yücesoylu Karakaya, President of the Champion Angels Keeping Alive Association, stated that tomorrow morning they will go to Gaziantep with the 08.00 plane, and from there they will go to Adıyaman with the buses arranged by the Prime Ministry, and said, “We are going with a group of 60 families. But our loved ones and very close friends also come with us. “The number exceeds 100,” he said.
Pointing out that the cases will be closely followed by staying at the Dedeman Hotel in Adıyaman, Karakaya said that the delegation will include the President of the Union of Bar Associations, Hasan Esendağlı, and the team of lawyers in Cyprus, and also the President of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations, Erinç Sağkan, two separate lawyers and also the legal team in Adıyaman. and that three separate lawyers in administration cases will be with them.
-“Families will be present at every hearing… We will never give up on our case, we will follow it closely.”
“It is certain that the families will be present at every hearing, we will never give up on our case,” said Karakaya, emphasizing that they will be present at every hearing and will follow the case closely.
Karakaya said, “Our struggle will continue until the criminals receive the heaviest punishment and until this case becomes a precedent.”
-“The Prime Minister will be with us along with himself and his entire team.”
Karakaya continued as follows:
“The Prime Minister will be with us along with himself and his entire team. He is already a complainant. They are always with us and support the families. “They will be with us with all members of the parliamentary committee.”
-İpekçioğlu
Speaking on behalf of the families, lawyer Pervin Aksoy İpekçioğlu stated that she did not think that there would be a negative situation in the course of the case at the first hearing, and expressed her belief that, in the light of the facts that were and will be revealed in this case, the crime attributed to the defendants would turn into possible intent as soon as possible.
-“Otherwise, of course, our struggle will continue… The irregularities committed in this building from the very beginning are clearly evident with the documents.”
Emphasizing that in the opposite case, of course, their struggle will continue, İpekçioğlu continued his words as follows:
“The irregularities committed in this building from the very beginning are clearly evident with the documents. We will bring all the evidence we have to the court with the reports of experts who are honest and believe in science. “Although we believe that dispensers of justice who have the notion of law and conscience will apply the law correctly, we will continue to teach them the law in order to enforce possible intent in case of a possible fault of conscious negligence.”
Pointing out that one of the most concrete events that requires the application of the possible intent fault type in the Turkish Penal Code, which came into force in 2005, is the Isias Hotel example, İpekçioğlu said, “If possible intent will not be applied in this case, all the justifications written for the scope of its application will no longer exist in the eyes of the legislator.”
-Aktuğralı
Murat Aktuğralı, a member of the Champion Angels Keeping Alive Association, stated that they will go to the city that is a grave in their hearts to seek justice and said, “We will be there so that the fire of justice we lit for our children will shed light on the courts of Turkey.”
-“Our legal struggle will not end until all those responsible receive the punishment they deserve.”
Pointing out that their case is not only for the Isias Hotel losses, but for all earthquake victims, Aktuğralı emphasized that the legal struggle will not end until all those responsible receive the punishment they deserve.
-Yiğittürk
Another person speaking on behalf of the families, Feriha Yiğittürk, said that their expectation was that the trial would continue as a possible trial.
Feriha Yiğittürk stated that from the first moment of the earthquake, the weaknesses regarding Isias Hotel were covered not only in the TRNC but also in the Turkish press, and said, “If this case is not considered as possible intent, no case will be included in the scope of possible intent.”
Yiğittürk continued as follows:
“The Karadeniz Technical University report reveals negligence. Sea sand was used, and the building designed as an apartment was turned into a hotel.
During this period, the people of TRNC stood by us strongly. The litigation process will continue for a long time. There is a common organization on social media. We see that our people are with us. “We expect this to continue.”
-Topukçuoğlu
Sena Bundak Topukçuoğlu, speaking on behalf of the Champion Angels Keeping Alive Association, said that while on one hand they could not breathe and experience the pain of their children as on the first day, on the other hand they stood to ensure their justice.
Topukçuoğlu continued his words as follows:
“My child, whom I sent to that city with great happiness and excitement, could not return to me. “Our legal struggle for my son, whose life was stolen, and for all our losses will continue until all those responsible receive the heaviest punishment.”
-Indictment
The indictment prepared on November 17, 2023 included the expert report prepared by the Civil Engineering Department of the Karadeniz Technical University Faculty of Engineering regarding the fault of the defendants.
In the report, it was stated that within the scope of the file, there were deficiencies regarding the stirrup spacing of columns and beams, hook features, overlapping lengths, anchorage and clamping lengths, that the deficiencies in reinforcement details could be one of the reasons for the collapse of the building, and that it was determined that the concrete compressive strengths did not meet the necessary conditions according to the evaluation criteria in the TS EN 13791 standard.
In the indictment, it was stated that the defendants did not sufficiently comply with the principles of the Regulation on Buildings to be Constructed in Earthquake Zones, which was valid on the date of the building’s construction, and that they were at fault in demolishing the building by acting contrary to the technical conditions required by science and science at the time.
Champion Angels Keeping Alive Association had organized actions to shed light on justice, to call out to the justice of the Republic of Turkey to try the criminals with possible intent, and to start a struggle to ensure that the earthquake criminals were tried with possible intent, not negligence.
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