Our situation on the second anniversary of the disaster... No detained defendants left in the Hasoğlu Apartment case

While 2 years have barely passed since the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes that occurred on February 6, 2023, no step has yet been taken to provide relief to the hearts of those who lost their loved ones in their struggle for justice. The prevalence of impunity in many ongoing cases is being met with backlash. In some files, an indictment has not even been prepared yet. 

One of the cases where the judicial phase is ongoing was the Hasoğlu Apartment case, which became a grave for 25 people in the central district of Adıyaman. While the pain of those who lost their loved ones has not yet healed, their pain was compounded by the judicial process, and as of December 30, there was not a single detained defendant left in the Hasoğlu Apartment case. 

A lawsuit was filed against contractors Mahmut Nedim Evli and Mahmut Portakal, contractor and static project author Ünal Gökbulut, site manager Adem Turan, building inspection company official and static project-application auditor Serdar Selçuk, building inspection company official Yusuf Kızılet, application auditor Mehmet Öztürk, and control personnel Yusuf Kılınç for the crime of "causing the death and injury of more than one person through conscious negligence."

Within the scope of the file, defendant Yusuf Kızılet was being tried while in detention.

Five days after the hearing held on December 25, 2024, at the Adıyaman 3rd High Criminal Court, defendant Yusuf Kızılet was released. Those who lost their loved ones in the Hasoğlu Apartment and their lawyers evaluated the process. 

Hüseyin Göksu, who lost his brother and sister-in-law in the building, told the ANKA News Agency about what has been experienced in the judicial process for two years:

"When we look at the courts and the hearings, we get the perception as if a theater play is being performed. Those responsible shift their responsibilities to someone else. No one wants to take responsibility; it is as if an attempt is being made to create a perception that the people who lost their lives there were the ones responsible. During the court process, the contractor explains that he was not the real contractor, and the site manager says he only signed and only went there after a certain stage. No one wants to take responsibility. Well then, who is responsible for this?"