Turkish court delivers first ruling on those responsible for quake-related building collapses

Duvar English

After the Feb. 6 earthquakes, the first verdict in the lawsuits filed against those responsible for the collapsed buildings was given in Turkey’s southeastern Şanlıurfa province. 

A Şanlıurfa High Criminal Court sentenced  Müslüm Demirer, the contractor of the apartment building where 34 people died and 10 people were injured, to 18 years in prison.

In his final opinion, the prosecutor stated that it was determined that the defendant did not fulfill his obligations according to the existing standards in the construction of the apartment building and was found to be at fault.

The defense lawyers stated that they did not accept the final opinion and that their clients had also lost their son in the rubble of the same building and suffered damages.

In the unanimous decision, the court panel sentenced the defendant to 21 year imprisonment for the offense of "causing death and injury to more than one person with conscious negligence.”

Due to the fact that he lost his own son in the building in question, his sentence was reduced by 1/6 and the defendant was sentenced to 18 years.

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