Raw images showing police shooting Turkish woman Dilek Doğan ‘deleted’: Expert

ISTANBUL

An expert report presented to a court hearing in the murder case of Dilek Doğan, who was killed by a police officer during a house raid in 2015, has showed that the raw images that could have had a major impact on the case were deleted from camera records. 

In the report received by the court during the fourth hearing on Oct. 12, computer engineer Gökhan Atamer, author of the document, said he investigated the camera used by police during the incident, as well as a CD that included three images shot by a camera, determining that the raw versions of the images taken during the raid had been deleted from the device.  

Atamer said he reached important data, including two photo images that were taken during the raid in which Doğan was shot, thanks to professional data restoration software, but noted that the raw versions of the images could not be obtained and that there had not been any changes to the images on the CD.

The court ordered the camera to be taken to the Gendarmerie Criminal Institution to work to retrieve the images taken during the incident. 

Doğan, 25, was shot after Istanbul police conducted operations on Oct. 18, 2015, at 16 addresses to purportedly apprehend alleged potential suicide bomber H.R.K., a member of the outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), in Istanbul’s Küçükarmutlu neighborhood.

One of the sites raided by police was the Doğan family’s home in Küçükarmutlu. While policemen were searching the home, Y.M. allegedly shot Doğan with his rifle at the entrance after she insisted that officers put on galoshes to avoid dirtying the floor.

Doğan’s parents say their daughter was killed after the policeman drew his weapon when she told the anti-terror squad to put on galoshes.

The police officer claimed in his testimony that the gun discharged accidentally in a scuffle after the family tried to snatch it away.

The hearing of the case was made behind closed doors and in the absence of Y.M., who faces up to 26.5 years in jail for the alleged murder. 

Meanwhile, during the trial, the court imposed an overseas travel ban on Y.M.

After the trial, the Doğan family and their lawyers made statements, claiming that the evidence in the case was being concealed. Doğan’s father, Metin Doğan, also criticized the fact that the suspect did not appear before the judge during the trial, citing security concerns.  

Police, meanwhile, detained six people who attempted to open a banner as the Doğan family was giving a statement. Arguing with riot police, members of the group with banners saying “People’s Front” were taken to a police station.