Turkish authorities release builders of collapsed building that killed 44 in Feb. 6 quakes

Duvar English

After the expert panel had suggested that those held responsible for the deaths of 44 people in the Sait Bey Apartment Building during the Feb. 6 earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş province were innocent, the court has released the defendants.

The same expert panel had previously cleared the fugitive defendants in the Ezgi Apartment Building case, where 35 people died in the quakes, according to the reporting of the daily BirGün.

At first, seven academics from Karadeniz Technical University (KTU) were commissioned by the Kahramanmaraş Chief Public Prosecutor's Office to prepare an expert report on the building, which collapsed even though it was built after the urban transformation.

The preliminary report, which listed numerous irregularities, stated, "After the completion of the construction of Block A, the mezzanine floor of the building was completed with steel construction and concrete, turning it into a full floor. Modifications not included in the original plans were made to the building after its construction. These changes negatively impacted the building's structural system."

At the end of the investigation, an indictment was prepared requesting prison sentences ranging from three years to 22.5 years for Hasan Çam, the contractor of the site known for its close ties to the Justice and Development Party (AKP); construction site chief Halil İbrahim Us; static project and implementation supervisor Yavuz Kaygısız; building inspection company owner Halil Yıldız; and building inspection company inspector Melike Yıldız.

However, a new expert report was commissioned while the trial was ongoing. According to the report dated July 15 and prepared by Turgay Çoşgun, Cihan Öser, Mücteba Uysal, Hakkı Ekşi, and Barış Sayın, only the contractor was found to be primarily at fault.

As for the other defendants, the expert panel stated that "it cannot be said with certainty that they did not fulfill their duties and responsibilities, and therefore no technical fault can be attributed to them.”

Following the report, the court on July 18 ruled for the release of the building inspection company owner and the implementation supervisor under judicial control measures. 

The expert panel also stated that they had “spent a great deal of effort in preparing the report” and demanded an additional expert fee of 20,000 Turkish liras each.

Tuba Erdemoğlu, who lost four relatives in the Sait Bey Apartment Building, stated,  “The lawyer of the defendants Halil Yıldız and Yavuz Kaygısız seemed very confident in their defense in the courtroom, almost as if they knew they would be released based on the forthcoming expert report.”

She noted that the lawyer’s defense almost exactly matched the expert report that came after and added, “The report from KTU deemed defendants as primarily at fault, but the new report somehow claims that no blame can be assigned. Forty-four people lost their lives, and currently, there is only one defendant in prison.”

The same expert panel also cleared the defendants in the Ezgi Apartment case, where 35 people were killed. Fugitive defendants Sami Kervancıoğlu and Mustafa Pekel, who were on trial for "intentional killing and injury with probable intent" and faced up to 876 years in prison, were found not at fault by the expert report.

The panel once again prepared a second report after the one by KTU and claimed they "put in considerable effort while preparing the report" requesting an increase in expert fees to 30,000 liras.