The police department knowingly misdirected an investigation into the brutal murders of three Bible publishers in the southeastern city of Malatya in April, evidence published in the Turkish press yesterday suggested.
The new findings come amongst a number of incidents suggesting what seem to be attempts to cover up facts and destroy evidence regarding the murder of three men at the Zirve Publishing House in Malatya. Disturbing connections between the suspects in the Malatya murders and the military had already emerged during the first hearing in the suspects' trial last week. The latest such proof of the police seeming reluctant to shed light on the murders was an outright lie told by the head of the Malatya Police Department, reports in yesterday's papers said.
Malatya Police Chief Ali Osman Kahya on Monday stated that video recordings from the hospital room of Emre Günaydın, one of the attackers suspected of having masterminded the murders, taken during the time he spent in a Malatya hospital after falling from the publishing house's window while trying to escape from police, were submitted to the prosecutors.
However, documents acquired by newspapers suggested otherwise. A number of newspapers published a scanned document, signed by a senior officer with the Malatya police, addressing the chief public prosecutor, announcing that the camera records had been "destroyed." Official documents signed by hospital officials also confirmed that this was the case.
Suspiciously reminiscent of past murders
Many here point to striking similarities between a shooting at the Council of State that killed a senior judge last year, the murder of ethnic-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink earlier this year and the brutal Malatya murders of April.
In all of the cases the suspects said they had committed the crimes in the name of religion, the motherland or the nation. One of the suspects in these incidents had a Turkish flag in his pocket, another suspect had prayer inscriptions. However, all of the suspects were entirely the opposite of what those objects stand for.
Emre Günaydın, who was the leader of the gang that murdered three Christian men from the Zirve Publishing House in Malatya in April of this year, cited religious motivations in his testimony on the killings. However, he has recently admitted to having smoked marijuana on more than one occasion. His police file also indicates that a large number of photographs with adult content were found on his home computer.
Ogün S., the teenager who shot Hrant Dink in January of this year, testified in court that he had taken two ecstasy pills and smoked marijuana before the murder.
In the 2006 Council of State shooting, the suspects, who had said they acted in the name of God, have confessed that they came to know each other when they met at a bar. Pornographic material was also found on their computers. Acquaintances have depicted lawyer Alparslan Arslan, the hit man in the shooting, as a "non-religious person who drank a lot."
Curtain of mist thickens over Malatya murder case
Transcripts of phone conservations revealed in an investigation recently launched into the brutal murder of three Christians have deepened the mystery over the involvement of agencies linked to the military or state in the case.
Emre Günaydın and four other suspects were arrested following the brutal murder of three Christians at Zirve Publishing House in the southeastern province of Malatya on April 18.
Phone conservations of five suspects accused of torturing and murdering two Turkish and one German Christian on April 18 in a publishing house in the southeastern province of Malatya have raised serious questions over the shadowy connections among the suspects, prosecutors, police officers and military personnel.
Though the murders first appeared to be motivated by hate toward the three publishers -- Necati Aydın, Uğur Yüksel and Tilmann Geske -- working at Zirve Publishing House, the phone calls made over the last six months prior to the killings by the five suspects -- Emre Günaydın, Hamit Çeker, Abuzer Yıldırım, Cuma Özdemir and Salih Gürler -- have revealed unexpected connections.
A security officer, a chief public prosecutor, a writer, a parliamentary deputy candidate and even members of special military forces are among the figures the suspects conversed with before the murders, noted media reports. The reports did not provide names but included initials of the individuals involved in the phone conservations with the five suspects. However, those implicated deny having spoken with the suspects, saying they gave their mobile phones to their relatives or friends years ago. Kartal public prosecutor, R.H.B., who was determined to have talked to Yıldırım twice on the phone prior to the murders, stated that he did not converse with any of the suspects. “It is true that the cell number belongs to me, but I gave the phone to one of my relatives years ago. I did not talk to Abuzer Yıldırım or any of the other suspects. I have no connection to this murder case,” he said.
Günaydın, another suspect, was found to have made many phone calls to Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) regional council member R.P., who allegedly provided information to the suspects about the missionaries' activities. While Yıldırım confirmed in his testimony that they received information from R.P., the latter denied the claims, saying he did not have any conservations with Yıldırım. Head of the Malatya MHP regional council, Ömer Ekici, speaking on behalf of R.P., said: “R.P.'s cell phone was being used by his daughter. Thus it was she who talked to Yıldırım, not R.P. himself.”
Malatya Police Chief Ali Osman Kahya, on the other hand, contradicted media reports that appeared on Tuesday over the whereabouts of video recordings from the hospital room of Emre Günaydın, who fell from the publishing house's window after the murders while trying to escape from police. “It is not true that video recordings of Günaydın's hospital room were deleted. We submitted all the recordings to the court. News reports which claim that the whereabouts of recordings, which are of significant importance in determining who visited Günaydın during his hospital stay, are unknown do not reflect the truth,” said Kahya. Upon a question over allegations that Günaydın was taken into custody after stabbing a man whom he encountered on a walk with his girlfriend two months ago, prior to the Malatya murders, but was released without any legal proceedings, Kahya noted, “It is all false.”
The testimony of a student staying at the same dormitory as some of the suspects suggested, on the other hand, that they had talked to certain individuals about the plan to attack Zirve two days before the murders, a report from the Cihan news agency said on Tuesday. The phone transcripts are currently being examined by prosecutors on the case.
The five suspects in the murder had claimed the motive was to stop Christians from defaming Islam and the Turkish nation. The first hearing in the trial of the five suspects took place in Malatya at the end of last month. The court has adjourned until Jan. 14, 2008.