The first hearing in the trial of five men accused of torturing and murdering two Turkish and one German Christian in April took place in Malatya, southeast Turkey, on Friday 22 November 2007.
Turkish citizen, Necati Aydin, and German citizen, Tilman Geske, were found tied to chairs by their hands and legs with their throats cut in a Christian publishing house where they worked. The second Turkish citizen, Ugur Yuksel, later died in hospital from multiple stab wounds. The five men standing trial, all aged between 19 and 20, confessed to the murders.
During the hearing at the tightly-secured Third Criminal Court in Malatya, legal representatives for the families of the murdered men and the Turkish Protestant churches objected to the use of 16 out of 31 case files presented by the public prosecutor. These files focused on the religious activities of the murdered men and published addresses for 40 other Christians associated with the victims.
The families' lawyers argued that this endangered the Christians listed and raised fears that the presentation of the prosecution will open the way for the defence lawyers to plead provocation, even though mobile phone records and emails sent by the defendants illustrate advanced planning of this attack and the intention to attack other Christians. The five defendants claimed in their confessions that the victims goaded them by insulting Islam and the Turkish nation, and alleged that the murdered men declared they supported the separatist Kurdish terror group PKK.
The legal team also asked the court to pursue other implications in the confessions which have not been investigated by the public prosecutor. The confessions include allusions to links between the defendants and members of various nationalist organisations. A man associated with the defendants sent a letter of confession to Turkish churches after the murders, in which he indicated that the attack was initiated by a University lecturer and members of the Gendarme. This letter was also not investigated by the public prosecutor.
The wives of the victims, Suzanne Geske and Semsa Aydin, read out personal statements in the court, emphasising their loyalty to Turkey, and asked the court to investigate who masterminded the attack. Semsa referred to the emotional status of her children, one of which asked whether or not they too would be killed because they are Christians.
The court adjourned until 14 January 2008, as the defence team argued they had not had adequate time to prepare. Following the hearing, Orhan Kemal Cengiz, the legal representative for the families and for the Alliance of Protestant Churches in Turkey, told the press that accusations made in the media against members of his legal team have put the lawyers at risk.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide's National Director, Stuart Windsor, said: "We are pleased to see the efforts of the Turkish police force to ensure safety during the trial. However, unless the Turkish government takes proactive steps to end the prejudice against Christians in the country, we fear we will witness more attacks on non-Muslims. This case is seen as a landmark to assess Turkey's commitment to religious tolerance. However, the court must pursue all aspects of the investigation and identify and punish the masterminds and the perpetrators of this attack. Only then will justice truly be served in this case and a clear message sent out that religiously motivated attacks will not be tolerated."
Notes to Editors
1. The Legal Committee of the Alliance of Turkish Protestant Churches has repeatedly drawn attention to the official stance against Christians missionaries by the Turkish state which singles them out as a national threat.
2. In 2007, a Armenian Orthodox journalist were murdered, two Protestant churches were attacked using Molotov Cocktails and another church was attacked with stones. In February 2006, a Roman Catholic priest was killed. Many clergy and workers for Christian organisations received death threats from right-wing nationalist groups.
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