Scandalous request for fugitive contractors of Furkan Apartment, which became a grave for 51 people: Court rejects Ersan Şen's demand

The Furkan Apartment in Nizip, Gaziantep, which was built by brothers Hasan Hüseyin and Abdullah Devrim Sever, was one of the buildings that collapsed. While 51 citizens lost their lives in the apartment, around 20 others were injured.

Ersan Şen, a well-known public figure, took on the defense of the Sever brothers, who remain fugitives despite an active arrest warrant against them.

Şen, who attended the second hearing of the case held on December 8, 2023, as their lawyer, made a scandalous request.

HE REQUESTED ASSURANCE TO PREVENT THEIR ARREST

According to the report by İsmail Arı from BirGün; Şen stated in court that his fugitive clients were afraid, saying, "An arrest warrant intimidates people. The reason these people are not here is because of the arrest warrant." Şen further requested that "the arrest warrant for the Sever brothers be lifted or that the court provide assurance to the clients."

The court rejected Ersan Şen's request and explained its reasoning as follows: "It was determined that they fled abroad when a detention order was issued against them during the investigation phase. They avoided giving testimony and delayed the judicial process against them..."

EXPERT WITNESS: COLUMNS WERE CUT

During the investigation phase of the incident, an expert committee was formed at Gaziantep University upon the request of the Nizip Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. The expert report, prepared on May 30, 2023, stated: "The architectural project submitted to the municipality did not match the static project, the two shops on the ground floor were not included in the static project, an illegal mezzanine floor was built on top of the two shops, one column was never built, and one column could not be found in the rubble." Emphasizing that the average concrete compressive strength was lower than it should have been, the report explained the cause of the building's collapse as follows: "The fact that the building collapsed inward toward the stairwell rather than outward reveals that there were multiple missing columns in the rear section, its symmetry was compromised, and extra load was added to the back of the building, such as a terrace floor."

The expert committee emphasized that the contractor was at fault for not showing the necessary care and for constructing a building contrary to the license. The indictment, which demands a prison sentence of 2 years and 8 months to 22 years and 6 months for each of the contractors, brothers Hasan Hüseyin and Abdullah Devrim Sever, for the crime of "causing the death and injury of more than one person by conscious negligence," was accepted by the Nizip High Criminal Court. The prosecution summoned contractors Hasan Hüseyin Sever and Abdullah Devrim Sever as suspects.

The Sever brothers did not appear to testify and instead went into hiding.