Anter murder suspect arrested in Diyarbakır

DİYARBAKIR - Doğan News Agency

A suspect accused of murdering Musa Anter, a prominent Kurdish author, was arrested yesterday by a court in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır.

Hamit Yıldırım, who was detained in the southeastern province of Şırnak on June 29, some 20 years after the murder took place, denied all accusations in his interrogation in court. The court cited strong suspicion of offense in its arrest ruling. Anter was killed in an armed attack in 1992. The prime suspect, Yıldırım, was photographed recently for the first time in Şırnak by daily Sabah. The murder case, which would have been dropped in three months due to the statute of limitations, has been extended for 10 more years due to the new development. Author Orhan Miroğlu, who was with Anter during the armed attack and miraculously survived despite serious injuries, was also able to identify the suspect from photographs taken 20 years ago. Inspecting the old and new photos of the suspect, Miroğlu said the person in the old photos looked very much like the hit man. “I saw him for a short time, but the image that remained in my mind of the bad memory of that night is very close to that photo. The person who killed Musa Anter and who shot me is very likely to be this person,” he said.