Military Thwarted in Semdinli Case

After a bookshop in Semdinli, in the south-eastern province of Hakkari was bombed in November 2005, two gendarmerie officers, Ali Kaya and Özcan Ildeniz, had been caught and tried for the bombing. The case was widely seen as another example of the "deep state" involved in provoking further conflict in the region.

On 19 June 2006, the 3rd Van Heavy Penal Court had sentenced Ali Kaya and Özcan Ildeniz to 39 years 5 months and 10 days imprisonment each. A third defendant, Veysel Ates, a former PKK member turned informant, had been sentenced to 39 years, 10 months and 27 days for "being a member of a criminal organization, attempted murder, probable intent of murder and grievous bodily harm". At the time, the third-party lawyer Sezgin Tanrikulu had told bianet that "the criminal organisation is not made up of three people only; the organization needs to be investigated as a whole and destroyed".

On 16 May 2007, the 9th Penal Office of the Supreme Court of Appeals had rescinded the sentences of the two officers, arguing that there had been "insufficient investigation". Furthermore, it had decreed that the case should be tried in front of a military court. Third-party lawyers Murat Timur and Tahir Elci had interpreted this decision as an attempt at a cover-up.

The case was then transferred back to the 3rd Van Heavy Penal Court, which had to decide whether to follow the Supreme Court of Appeal's decree. In a hearing on 13 June, which was attended by Ali Kaya, Özcan Ildeniz, Veysel Ates (whose case has been added to the officers' case) and the owner of the bombed bookshop, Seferi Yilmaz.

The heavy penal court in Van has decided not to send the case to a military court, but has agreed with the decision of the Supreme Court to reopen the case. The next hearing will be 11 July. (TK/EÜ/AG/EÜ)

* Related Articles:

* "Semdinli Gang' Not Only Three People"

* Amnesty International: Bombing in Semdinli: How high up does it go?