DENİZ TEKİN
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey — The prolonged legal proceedings concerning the 1993 Lice incident, in which 16 individuals lost their lives, including 14 civilians, one soldier, and Gendarmerie Regional Commander Bahtiyar Aydın, were concluded without any conviction, according to court documents.
The case, which was nearing its statute of limitations, was accepted by the Diyarbakır 8th High Criminal Court on September 2, 2013. The indictment listed the then-Diyarbakır Gendarmerie Regiment Commander Eşref Hatipoğlu and JITEM Team Commander Lieutenant Tünay Yanardağ as the defendants. Yanardağ was acquitted during the trial, and Hatipoğlu passed away during the appeal process. As a result, the Izmir 1st High Criminal Court closed the case file.
The trial commenced in 2014 and concluded on December 7, 2018. Yanardağ's case was dismissed due to his demise. The court ruled that Hatipoğlu was not guilty of the crimes charged against him and thus acquitted him.
The 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals decided that necessary investigations should be carried out on Hatipoğlu's death and his case should be dismissed, overturning the local court's decision. The Izmir 1st High Criminal Court, after reviewing the file on May 2, 2023, decided to drop the public lawsuit against the defendant in accordance with Articles 64/1 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) and 223/8 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CMK).
The case was launched following the incidents in which Gendarmerie Commander Bahtiyar Aydın and 14 civilians lost their lives, 35 people were injured, and many homes and businesses were damaged. The indictment sought life imprisonment and up to 24 years in prison for Hatipoğlu and Yanardağ, who were alleged to have directed the operation in Lice. However, due to the trial being moved to Eskişehir for security reasons and Yanardağ's death, Hatipoğlu remained the sole defendant.
Despite being accused of carrying out the assassination, 85-year-old Mehmet Emin Özkan, who had been in prison for 27 years and was suffering from health problems, was found to have no connection with the incident. Özkan's request for a retrial was accepted, but he was not released.
A series of cases were opened on human rights violations of the 90s in the Kurdish region involving public officials. Most of these cases were started near the statute of limitations and were moved to different cities for security reasons. They either fell through due to the statute of limitations or the defendants were protected by impunity and acquitted.
Cases such as the Altınova (Vartinis) Massacre, the Yüksekova case, and the JITEM case continue under the threat of impunity and statute of limitations.
