Lawyers worried about new panel of judges ahead of ISIS massacre hearing in Ankara

Attorneys representing the victims of the 2015 Ankara Massacre are concerned about an entirely new panel of judges who were assigned to the case on Dec. 24, 2020. There are more than 300 pieces of evidence in the case where over 100 people died, the attorneys said, noting that they are concerned that the new appointments will hinder the delivery of justice for the victims.

Tuesday March 09 2021 03:45 pm

Serkan Alan / DUVAR

Attorneys defending the victims of ISIS' October 10, 2015 bombing are concerned that an entirely new panel of judges who were assigned to the case five years later will hinder the prosecution of the 16 fugitive defendants.

"At this point, we're faced with a court that rejects all our petitions, and public offices that don't comply with the court's requests for warrants. So, we are concerned that the truth risks being covered up yet again," the attorneys said in a public statement urging the public to support their cause.

Dated a day before the ninth hearing in the case on March 10, the statement also noted that the Ankara Massacre case is the only existing lawsuit in the Turkish judicial system that seeks to prosecute for a "crime against humanity."

The evidence in the case counts up to 300 different pieces, which creates even more concern over the assignment of an entirely new panel of judges to the case some five years after the incident took place.

The attorneys said that the only way the truth sees daylight is if the press, the public and civil organizations work together to create and maintain awareness about it, and urged the public to remain vigilant about the case.

ISIS twin suicide bomb attack outside Central Ankara railway station killed more than one hundred people and injured more than five hundred on Oct. 10, 2015. The massacre went down as the deadliest terror attack in modern Turkish history.

The victims were largely supporters of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) who gathered for a peace rally.