Kemal Kurkut's brother: Newroz brings justice

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  • 11:16 17 March 2023
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DİYARBAKIR- Ercan Kurkut, brother of Kemal Kurkut, who was murdered by the police in Newroz, said: "March is a bitter month, but there is still the reality of Newroz." Lawyer Serdar Çelebi also said that the policy of impunity is not broken in the judiciary and bureaucracy.
 
It is the 7th anniversary of the murder of university student Kemal Kurkut, who came to Amed(Diyarbakır) to attend the Newroz celebration on March 21, 2017, by the police at the checkpoint. While the judicial leg of the murder, which was photographed frame by frame by journalist Abdurrahman Gök, continued with the policy of impunity, his elder brother Ercan Kurkut said: "The state is killing Kemal once again before every Newroz."
 
'MARCH IS A HARD MONTH'
 
Saying that all Newroz celebrations after Kemal's murder were in a sad mood for them, his older brother Kurkut said: "As soon as we enter March, different feelings really come true. Of course, Kemal is one of the symbols of Newroz, but not only Kemal, but many of our friends who were martyred during Newroz until today. Kemal became a little more visible. It was the state itself that multiplied this. The state murders Kemal once again before every Newroz. March is a bitter month for us, but there is still the reality of Newroz.”
 
'JUSTICE DELAYED IS NOT JUSTICE'
 
Stating that if there had been a trial, if only one person had been detained and arrested regarding the Kemal Kurkut case, they would have known that something might have happened, Korkut said: "A chain of crime has been committed so far and in this; There is not even a single investigation for the 'defendant, district governorships, members of the police, the governorship that tortured and lied to the funeral'. Since this has been the case from the first day, our faith in justice has disappeared. Only one person was punished for this incident, room Abdurrahman Gök, that is, the person who enlightened this incident. As such, people lose their faith in justice. Justice delayed is not justice.”
 
'THE NEWROZ WILL BRING JUSTICE'
 
Kurkut completed his words as follows: “I don't know how the justice can be served but the state has not even allowed our wounds to heal until now. I hope this Newroz will be instrumental in bringing justice and human rights and people like Kemal Kurkut will not be killed again. I congratulate the Kurdish people's Newroz, may this Newroz be a means of freedom in 4 parts of Kurdistan."
 
'IT WAS OBVIOUS WHAT POLICE DID'
 
Stating that Kurkut was murdered in front of the cameras and in front of everyone on Newroz Day by a police officer, lawyer Serdar Çelebi said: "The Governor's Office made a statement right after. In order to cover up the incident, because it was obvious what police did, it was essential that the incident be covered up and that the police would not be punished, like other similar incidents. A statement was made in like that. The governor's office made a statement that the live bomb was destroyed and seized. Then we saw the studies that have been done to confirm this explanation. There has never been an effort to uncover the perpetrator, collect evidence and punish the perpetrator at the end of the trial process."
 
'POLICE DID NOT NEED TO USE A WEAPON'
 
Çelebi criticized the court's decision despite the lack of crowds, the presence of police, police barriers, and police vehicles all around and the police statements said: "There is no need to use a gun. He did not find any crime or illegality in the murder of a university student in front of so many police officers. In fact, it was one of the typical murders committed in the region. It was no different from similar incidents where the perpetrator was a public official. It is not a coincidence that the accused was not punished in any of the cases similar to this that were committed in the region. The goal is the policy of impunity. Both the judiciary and the state bureaucracy do not want this to be corrupted. Therefore, as in similar events, the murder of a young person in this incident was covered up. In other words, no one cares about the pain of the mother, the value judgments of the society, whether the trust of the society in the judiciary will be damaged or not.”