What Happened to the Semdinli Case?
Ilnur
Cevik
17 May 2007
ilnurcevik@yahoo.com
The Supreme Court of Appeals overturned the
convictions of two non-commissioned officers in the famous Semdinli case where
the military personnel were accused of masterminding a bomb attack on a bookshop
owned by a Kurdish activist.
The appeals court said the defendants Ali Kaya and Ozcan Ildeniz who were
convicted 39 years 5 months and 10 days prison terms on charges of murder,
attempted murder and forming a criminal gang by a Van court should be retried
because the case against them was based on an incomplete investigation…
Kurdish activists and the people of Semdinli were always suspicious that this
case would be subjected to a cover up and that the non-commissioned officers
would go unpunished. So when they were convicted we were the first to point out
to these people that their fears were unfounded and we told them "trust Turkish
justice."
It is sad that this case has been riddled with controversies from the very
start. The prosecutor who prepared the charges was sacked and he was banned from
the profession… He had accused the Chief of Staff General Yasar Buyukanit of
being behind the covert operations against Kurdish activists.
This case also forced the government to fire the intelligence chief of the
security department…
The only positive element in the case was that the court in Van had withstood
all pressures and had managed to convict the non-commissioned officers. Now the
Supreme Court of Appeals has put an end to this. It has overturned the ruling of
the court but that is not all. The supreme court also decided that the two
non-commissioned officers will be tried by a military court and not a civilian
court. So the military will now have the final say and this case is closed
forever.
What has happened at the bookstore in Semdinli on November 9, 2005 where a
person was killed will now be regarded either as a mystery or a major cover up.
The people of southeastern Turkey will now question the verdict of the supreme
court whether we like it or not. Let us hope no one tries to exploit this case
and try to create new tensions in the region.
Some people may rejoice the fact that they have saved the two non-commissioned
officers but they also have to see that this will not be good for the image of
the military in the eyes of the European Union.
Turkey has to show to the world that the rule of law exists and that everyone is
equal before the law. But with cases like this it is hard to make such a
statement.
It also shows that we still have a long way to go before we can boast that our
judiciary is at par with its European counterparts…
