A Turkish court in the Northern Kurdish province of Şırnak has announced that the investigation into the death of Mehmet Sadık Bozderi, who was murdered by Turkish security forces during the military siege of Idil on 23 February 2016, has been closed.

The public prosecutor's office in Idil ruled that there was no reason for an indictment, arguing that the military had not acted illegally but in self-defense in killing the 54-year-old man in his home. The public prosecutor's office based its decision on the claim that Bozderi was "too likely to have been a neutralized member of the organization". The court now agreed with this view and thus legitimated the extrajudicial execution.

Background

In early September 2015, the Turkish state imposed a curfew on İdil. It was the first in a chain of curfews that continued until spring 2017, as self-government had been proclaimed in a number of Kurdish towns and municipalities.

Mehmet Sadık Bozderi had not left his apartment in the Atakent neighborhood despite the military siege. The 54-year-old was waiting for an ambulance on the day of his death because he was a heart patient and needed urgent treatment. Instead of an ambulance, the Turkish army came; soldiers first rained bullets on the house where Bozderi lived. This was followed by a deadly grenade attack on his home.

The investigation report of the public prosecutor's office in Idil states: "During the search of the property, a male corpse, about 50 to 55 years old, was found with shots in the chest area. There was no weapon either with the dead man or in his vicinity, however, since radio messages spoke of a neutralized organization member, it can be assumed that other organization members stole the weapon from the deceased. Furthermore, Bozderi was not among the people who had told the police that they wanted to stay in the town yet before the curfew was declared. In addition, antimony was found on his body.”

Antimony is a highly toxic alloying component that is used to control the hardness of the lead in ammunition. The fact that there were traces of it on Bozderi's body is understandable given the circumstances of his murder with ammunition.

In İdil at least 127 people were victims of the Turkish military siege. Also in other districts of Şırnak as well as in Mardin, Amed (Diyarbakir) and other Kurdish cities the Turkish army waged an all-out war against the civilian population. According to official figures, 1,464 people died during the conflict period. The number of unreported cases is probably much higher.