Abdulhamit Düdük

person
Image
Image
Sex
Male
Civil status
Unknown
Date body found
Jul 17, 1994
Occupation
  • Merchant
Event description

Upon his return to Turkey from Northern Iraq with quite a large sum of money on his person, via the Habur border gate on 16th July 1994, Abulhamit Düdük, a merchant, was stopped in his car by security forces and searched. He was eventually let go by the security forces.

The next day, on 17th July 1994, the mukhtar of Gürsu village informed the gendarme that there was a dead man’s body next to a car that was left in the river, which was later found out to be Abdulhamit Düdük. Düdük was blindfolded and shot in the head. The money was not found. Some villagers had heard shots being fired the day before but had not seen the culprits.

Abdulhamit Düdük’s elder brother, İsmet, claimed that Abdulhamit was killed for the money he ws carrying and that the culprits were two confessors (ex-PKK-members-turned JİTEM employees) working for the gendarme who went by the code names B. and H. Accusing the gendarme of protecting the culprits, his brother wanted the police to lauch an investigation. Nothing happened until the late 2000s when the Cizre District Gendarme Commander of the time and several village guards and PKK repentants allegedly working for him were discovered as suspects and put on trial. Eventually, however, all suspects including the District Gendarme Commander were acquitted in 2015 because of lack of sufficient evidence. The ruling is under review by the Court of Cassation.

The details of the case can be reviewed at http://failibelli.org/en/dava/the-temizoz-case/.

Geolocation

Latitude: 37.33234600000001

Longitude: 42.185474000000006

Geolocation
City
Şırnak
District
Cizre
Date of disappearance
Jul 16, 1994
Year of disappearance
1994
Age at the time of disappearance
Yaş:33
Status of the victim
Discovered dead and returned to the family
Latest status as suspect in the act
  • Yargılandı fakat beraat etti
  • Yargıtay beraat kararını onadı
Type of source material
  • Bill of indictment
  • Press release or report of human rights organisations
  • Printed or online news
Decision by the prosecution office
Davada delil yetersizliği nedeniyle beraat kararı verildi; Yargıtay beraat kararını onadı
Name of the court case
Case of Temizoz and Others
Summary of the legal proceedings

Due to the arbitrary killing and enforced disappearance of 21 individuals between 1993 and 1995, a suit was filed against the Cizre District Gendarmerie Commander of the time, the former Cizre Mayor, K.A., T.A., A.Y., F.A. (A.G.), H.A. and B.K. in 2009, on grounds of forming an entity with the intention of committing crimes, joining this entity by becoming a member, killing individuals and instigating to kill.

The case started at the Diyarbakır 6th High Penal Court with arrested defendants the District Gendarmerie Commander, K.A., T.A., A.Y., F.A. (A.G.), while K.A. was arrested in 2010 and B.K. in 2012.

First, K.A. was released in 2011, followed by T.A. and K.A. in 2012, and then, H.A. and A.G. in 2013.

The Prosecutor’s Office asked for the prosecution of only 9 of the murders, including Abdülhamit Düdük, while for the rest, due to the possibility of the dismissal of the case based on the statue of limitations and lack of sufficient evidence, he asked for acquittal.. For the District Gendarmerie Commander, the prosecutors sought 5 times aggravated life imprisonment and 100 years of prison sentence.

After the abolition of the courts with special jurisdiction, the case was transferred to Şırnak and then to the 2nd High Criminal Court of Eskişehir on grounds of security.

In the interim, A.Y., B.K. and the District Gendarmerie Commander were released taking into account the time they had already spent in prison.

During the hearing held at the 2nd High Penal Court in Eskişehir on 18th April2015, the Prosecutor’s Office demanded that due to testimony of the witnesses and the lack of hard, conclusive and compelling evidence, each of the eight defendants be acquitted separately.

During the summary judgment hearing held on 5th November 2015 the District Gendarmerie Commander and all the other defendants were acquitted. The Court of Cassation is reviewing the case.

The details of the case can be reviewed at http://failibelli.org/en/dava/the-temizoz-case/.