Six witnesses on compulsory process in Hürriyet attack case

Burcu Purtul Uçar – ISTANBUL

An Istanbul court ruled on Oct. 13 on compulsory process for six witnesses in the case into the 2015 attacks at the Hürriyet headquarters, as the hearing had previously been adjourned.

The Bakırköy Fifth Criminal Court of First Instance ruled on compulsory process for the six witnesses, as they did not attend the hearing in which some 26 suspects were tried in the case over “violation of a residence” and “damaging property” and face up to nine years in prison.

“We were stationed in front of Hürriyet on Sept. 8, 2015. A crowded group approached, chanting slogans. The gates were blocked with trucks and the group came through and went inside. We asked for backup. But those who got through started kicking the windows. They threw what they could grab on and broke the lights,” Yasin Keklik, the police officer on duty during the attack said in court.

“When the backup arrived, we took them out. We did not detain them. There is no way I can identify the attackers,” the officer added.

Plaintiff Şafak Çetin Çorum, Hürriyet’s lawyer at the time, also said he could not identify the attackers and that he went to the scene after hearing the rising tension.

Police officers, who testified as witnesses in court on May 25, had noted the small size of the force was unable to stop the approximately 200 assailants who raided the building.

Telling the court he was on duty on both days in front of Hürriyet, police officer Barış Tanerlioğlu also had said it was impossible for them to stop the group of attackers because their numbers were too big on May 25.

Hürriyet’s Istanbul headquarters in the city’s Bağcılar district were pelted with stones by club-wielding protesters on Sept. 8, 2015, 48 hours after a similar attack targeting the office.