Top court postpones decision on Sivas massacre case

ANKARA

Türkiye's top court has announced that it will delay its decision on the statute of limitations regarding the case related to the tragic arson attack on the Madımak Hotel in Sivas in 1993, following the submission of additional reports.

The Constitutional Court's decision came after individual applications from the relatives of victims who perished in the tragic incident. The families filed their application in 2014, arguing that the trial process was "ineffective" and violated provisions on fair trial, emphasizing the event's classification as a "crime against humanity" and therefore not subject to a statute of limitations.

After initial deliberations in June 2021, the court postponed its examination. Subsequently, the court revisited the application last December but once again deferred its review. The most recent decision, made on Jan. 25, referred the application to a plenary session.

In yesterday's session, the top court opted to commission an additional report on the case before resuming discussions, effectively postponing a final ruling.

The case traces back to March 8, 2012, when an Ankara criminal court declared the statute of limitations expired for two of the uncaptured defendants. Two other defendants had their cases dropped due to their deaths, while five others saw their cases dismissed on similar grounds.

Despite objections from interveners' lawyers, the Court of Appeals upheld the statute of limitations in July 2014.

The legal saga also involves defendants Murat Sonkur, Eren Ceylan and Murat Karataş, who faced imprisonment in the main case but were later discovered to be fugitives after a Court of Appeals reversal. Their trials resumed in September last year, only to be dismissed due to the statute of limitations.

The event unfolded during a time when renowned short story writer Aziz Nesin, who was among the conference attendees, had become a public target for translating Salman Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses" into Turkish.

The participants of the conference were accused of being infidels by a large crowd outside, incited by local political leaders.

The devastating fire claimed the lives of 33 people attending the conference, along with two hotel staff members. Notably, two protesters who were part of the crowd outside the hotel, which had contributed to the events leading to the fire, also died in the blaze while observing the hotel's occupants in distress.