Sentences have been given to four defendants in the retrial of the case related to the explosion in 2008 in a business center in Zeytinburnu, İstanbul, known as the Davutpaşa explosion, where 21 people lost their lives and 115 others were injured .
The retrial had followed a Constitutional Court's (AYM) decision stating a "violation of the right to life." Two of the defendants received 10 months each, while the other two were sentenced to 1 year and 8 months each in prison.
The hearing today (December 13) at the 6th Heavy Penal Court of Bakırköy was attended by the defendant Rüstem Tekin, who is not in custody, along with some victims and lawyers representing the parties.
The plaintiffs and their attorneys attending the hearing requested the punishment of the defendants. When given the opportunity to speak, the defendant Rüstem Tekin stated, "I am innocent, and I request my acquittal."
The court, announcing its decision on the case, sentenced defendant Şevket Yıldırım, who served as the director of urban planning and construction at Zeytinburnu Municipality between 2004 and 2007, and the defendant Hatice Küçükakyüz, who held the position until January 31, 2008, for the same role, to 1 year in prison each for the crime of "misuse of duty through negligence."
Taking into account the potential impact of the sentence on the defendants' futures, the court, by majority vote, applied a discretionary reduction and reduced the sentence to 10 months for each defendant.
The court has decided to sentence the defendant Feruz Kutsal, who served as the director of municipal police at Zeytinburnu Municipality from June 2000 until the date of the explosion, and the defendant Rüstem Tekin, who served as the director of licensing and inspection from 2004 until the explosion, to 2 years in prison each for the crime of "misuse of duty."
Applying a discretionary reduction by majority vote for these defendants as well, the court reduced the sentence to 1 year and 8 months each.
The court ruled that there is no place for the suspension of the defendants' sentences, citing that, considering the personality traits reflected in the case, there is no positive conviction that they will not commit a crime again.
The presiding judge expressed dissent with the decision regarding the discretionary reduction applied to the sentences of the defendants.
"Same decision as six years ago"
Following the hearing, Özlem Özkan, a representative of some of the plaintiffs' attorneys, stated, "The decision given today is the same as the one the court made six years ago. We were advocating for a much higher penalty. However, the court has once again maintained its previous decision. We will again file our objection to this ruling."
The 6th Heavy Penal Court of Bakırköy had, in its decision on January 17, 2019, sentenced two defendants to 10 months each for the crime of "misuse of duty through negligence" and the other two defendants to 2 years in prison each for the crime of "misuse of duty." The announcement of the verdict was also postponed.
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What happened?
In the explosion that occurred on January 31, 2008, in the 5-story Emek Business Center in Davutpaşa, Zeytinburnu, 21 people lost their lives, and 115 others were injured. The explosion took place in an unlicensed fireworks workshop.
Following the explosion, it was revealed that many businesses in the area were operating without permits, workers were employed off the records, inspections were not carried out, and there were insufficient resources allocated for this purpose.
The relatives of the victims held a vigil at the Taksim tram stop for 35 weeks, starting on June 20, 2009, urging the initiation of a criminal case. However, the case was only opened two years later, on February 18, 2010.
The indictment prepared by the Bakırköy Public Prosecutor's Office sought the punishment of 5 personnel from Zeytinburnu Municipality, 2 building owners, and one person from the workshop where the explosion occurred. Despite the responsibility established in the expert report, it took four years for the then Zeytinburnu Municipality Mayor Murat Aydın and Atakan Tanış, the Director of Labor Social Security for the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, to be included as defendants in the case.
Although the expert report also determined responsibility for the then İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Kadir Topbaş, he was not prosecuted.
The first-instance court, with its decision on July 14, 2014, acquitted the Mayor of Zeytinburnu Municipality, the Director of Labor Social Security Provincial Directorate, and an employee of a workplace, and it ruled for various imprisonment and fines for the other defendants.
Upon the appeal of the case by the parties, the Court of Cassation upheld the decisions regarding some defendants while overturning the decisions concerning others.
The plaintiff's attorneys has also filed an appeal to the Constitutional Court on February 14, 2018.
The Constitutional Court (AYM) deemed the allegation of a violation of the right to life acceptable and decided to award the applicants a moral compensation of 1 million 200 thousand liras. They also sent a copy of the decision to the 6th Heavy Penal Court of Bakırköy for a retrial to be conducted. (HA/PE)
