It became a grave for 35 people in the earthquake: Ersan Şen has become the lawyer for the fugitive defendants!

The 10-story Ezgi Apartment building in the Onikişubat district of Kahramanmaraş collapsed during the 7.7-magnitude earthquake that occurred at 04:17 on February 6, and 35 people lost their lives in the building.

The Kahramanmaraş Chief Public Prosecutor's Office requested an expert report regarding the Ezgi Apartment from the Karadeniz Technical University (KTÜ) Department of Civil Engineering.

IT WAS DETERMINED THAT A COLUMN HAD BEEN CUT

In the report prepared by 7 faculty members, it was stated that the contractor who built the building and Kervan Pastanesi, which carried out renovations, were primarily at fault for the collapse. The KTÜ report explained that holes were drilled into the shear wall of Kervan Pastanesi for ventilation, a tied column between the ground floor and the mezzanine was cut, and the patisserie had opened a void in the slab for a service elevator that was not present in the static and architectural plans.

According to the report, the foundation beams in the building were insufficient in terms of reinforcement area. There was also an illegal floor in the building.

Following the KTÜ report, the Kahramanmaraş Chief Public Prosecutor's Office issued an instruction for the owners of Kervan Pastanesi, Sami Kervancıoğlu and Mustafa Pekel, to be brought to the prosecutor's office. However, authorities could not find Sami Kervancıoğlu and Mustafa Pekel, against whom an indictment was prepared seeking up to 876 years and 6 months in prison each for the crimes of "causing death and injury by probable intent," at their registered addresses.

While the owners of Kervan Pastanesi, for whom an arrest warrant had been issued, were being sought, another development occurred that drew attention.

ERSAN ŞEN HAS BECOME THE LAWYER FOR THE FUGITIVE DEFENDANTS

According to a report by İsmail Arı from BirGün, the fugitive Kervancıoğlu and Pekel's lawyer objected to the report prepared by KTÜ, which stated that Kervan Pastanesi was the cause of the building's collapse. It was observed that the defense of Kervancıoğlu and Pekel in the objection petition was undertaken by Prof. Dr. Ersan Şen, a figure well-known to the public who had announced his desire to be a presidential candidate in the last election.

In his objection, Şen opposed the KTÜ report, stating that "the claim that the column was cut has not been proven."

Furthermore, on the fourth day of the earthquake, Şen had made a call for help for his client Ayça Zeynep Bildirici and her family, who lived in the collapsed Ezgi Apartment, during a television program he attended.

It was later learned that Bildirici was also among the 35 people who lost their lives.