ŞIRNAK -  13-year-old Fatma Elarslan from whom no news could have been heart and found dead after 20 days following the curfews in the district of İdil in Şırnak province was deemed as "a member of an organization" based on the testimonies of an "anonymous witness" and a decision of non-prosecution was regarding her death.

 

13-year-old Fatma Elarslan went missing during the curfews declared on February 16, 2016  in the district of İdil in Turkey's Kurdish-majority Şırnak province and her dead body was found on March 7, 2016 was considered as "a member of an organization". The investigation launched regarding Elarslan's death was given a decision of non-prosecution by Şırnak Public Prosecutor's Office.

 

In the autopsy, it was documented that Elarslan's death was caused by gunshot wounds and ammunition explosion.

 

LAWFUL ORDER!

 

In the decision of non-prosecution the claim that Elarslan is "a member of an organization" was stated based on the testimonies of anonymous witness that was recorded in the file with the pseudo-name of "Hilal" and it was claimed that Elarslar was involved in a conflict with the police. The decision also claimed that it was not possible to detect which gun the bullets that killed Elarslan. Defending the claim that the 13-year-old child was clashing with the police the decision said, "She was in an armed conflict with the law enforcement and killed by the law enforcement forces. It has been evaluated that the law enforcement officers have fulfilled a lawful order from a competent authority."

 

'NO LEGAL GROUND TO KILL FATMA' 

 

Veysel Vesek, the lawyer of the Elarslan family stated that there is not legal ground to kill Fatma and declare her as a member of an organization as she was just in the age of 13 when she was killed. Taking attention to the official reports documenting the conflict in İdil,"It was stated that there was no conflict outside, in the open-air," said Vesek and asked, "Then by which operation and how Fatma was killed

 

APPEAL WAS REJECTED

 

Magistrate Court, on the other hand, rejected the appeal on the grounds that "Based on the available evidence, if the suspect is more likely to be acquitted, then it is decided that there is no room for prosecution. The second reason for the decision of non-prosecution is that it is not possible to prosecute for reasons such as death, amnesty, timeout".

 

MA / Ahmet Kanbal