New development in the Ezgi Apartment case: Appeal against arrest warrants for fugitive defendants rejected

In the case regarding the Ezgi Apartment, which collapsed in the February 6 earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş, resulting in the loss of 35 lives, the court has rejected a request to lift the arrest warrants for defendants Sami Kervancıoğlu and Mustafa Pekel, who are accused of cutting columns in the pastry shop on the ground floor and have been fugitives for 347 days.

COLUMNS HAD BEEN CUT

It was determined that columns had been cut in the pastry shop located on the ground floor of the Ezgi Apartment, and this situation became one of the symbols of the February 6 earthquakes. A lawsuit was filed at the Kahramanmaraş 4th High Criminal Court against 5 people, including the two fugitive defendants. The court requested an expert report, which was added to the file on July 31.

The expert report stated that design errors in the building, the cutting of shear walls in the ground-floor business, and the construction of a penthouse terrace in violation of the project were effective in the building's collapse. According to the report, contractor Yakup Aktaş, who is being tried without arrest, and civil engineer Kemal Türkarslan, the static project author who passed away 12 years ago, were found to be primarily at fault.

IT WAS CLAIMED THAT THE COLUMNS WERE NOT EFFECTIVE IN THE BUILDING'S COLLAPSE

In the same report, it was stated that the pastry shop interior designer Ertan Danacı (52), who is currently in custody, and pastry shop operators Sami Kervancıoğlu and Mustafa Pekel were innocent, claiming that the columns alleged to have been cut were not effective in the building's collapse.

REQUEST REJECTED

Following the report, lawyers for the fugitive defendants Sami Kervancıoğlu and Mustafa Pekel applied to the Kahramanmaraş 4th High Criminal Court to have the arrest warrants for their clients lifted. However, the court rejected the request, taking into account the nature of the crime, the current state of evidence, and the projected sentence, and ruled that the arrest warrants should remain in effect.

The lawyers appealed this decision to the Kahramanmaraş 5th High Criminal Court. However, this appeal was also rejected on the grounds that the decision was in accordance with procedure and law. Furthermore, the Kahramanmaraş 4th High Criminal Court also rejected the release requests of the detained defendants Ertan Danacı and Mehmet Tekin.