Maksut Tepeli
person- Image
- Sex
- Male
- Civil status
- Married
- Occupation
- Teacher
- Dependants
- 1
- Event description
Based on the archives of the Batman Bar Association and the Human Rights Division of the İstanbul Bar Association, Varto-born Maksut Tepeli was a teacher, who married a colleague of his. Both Maksut Tepeli and his wife were members of the Teacher’s Union TÖB-DER and they were bothdetained and kept in prison for five monthsShortly after their release, with a new arrest warrant issued for them under the military coup of 12 September 1980, they became fugitives. On 2nd February 1984, Maksut Tepeli was shot and gravely wounded in Istanbul by police officers who took him to the Gayrettepe Police Headquarters. On 5th February 1984, he was admitted to the Haydarpaşa Hospital in a coma. Three of his friends, who were under detention at the same time as him, informed Maksut Tepeli’s family that Maksut Tepeli had been tortured despite his severe wounds and the police officers who were torturing them later showed them a photo of his dead body to further scare them.
His family applied to authorities to no avail, until 2003, when his father found out by coincidence that his date of death had been registered in the official records as 6th February 1984 and once again applied to authorities for an investigation. Despite the family’s efforts, the case was dismissed yet again in 2006 by the Kadıköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office as well as the complaint filed later in 2011 with the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office (2012/40291), this time citing statute of limitations. The family appealed against both decisions to no avail.
Maksut Tepeli’s bodily remains have not been discovered.
- Geolocation
Latitude: 40.983333
Longitude: 29.127778
- Geolocation
- City
- İstanbul
- District
- Ataşehir
- Date of disappearance
- Feb 2, 1984
- Year of disappearance
- 1984
- Age at the time of disappearance
- Yaş:28
- Status of the victim
- Discovered dead but not returned to the family
- Type of source material
- Press release or report of human rights organisations
- Printed or online news
- Statement by victim/complainant
- Decision by the prosecution office
- Decision of non-prosecution due to statute of limitations
- Summary of the legal proceedings
Based on the archives of the Batman Bar Association and the Human Rights Division of the İstanbul Bar Association, having discovered proof of Maksut Tepeli’s death in the civil registry records, his family applied to the Kadıköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, where witnesses testified that they had been shown a photo of his dead body by police officers torturing them. The family’s lawyers discovered Maksut Tepeli’s death record at the Haydarpaşa Hospital, also dated 6th February 1984 and found out that the police officers who had tortured him to death had been identified but the case was dismissed by the Prosecution Office of the Martial Law Command. Despite the family’s efforts, the case was dismissed yet again in 2006 by the Kadıköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office as well as the complaint filed later in 2011 with the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office (2012/40291), this time citing statute of limitations. The family appealed against both decisions to no avail.
Maksut Tepeli’s bodily remains have not been discovered.