Somer Sivrioğlu in court: Request for confidentiality order denied

The trial of 7 defendants, including chef Somer Sivrioğlu, continued regarding the collapse of a retaining wall in front of his restaurant in Beşiktaş, which resulted in 1 death and 1 injury.

The hearing at the Istanbul 32nd High Criminal Court was attended by the non-detained defendants Somer Sivrioğlu and Kadri Berk Cemal, as well as the lawyers for the parties.

IMM ALSO FOUND AT FAULT

The presiding judge announced that the expert report determined that the property and restaurant owners, as well as the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM), were at fault due to a lack of oversight.

The request by Somer Sivrioğlu's lawyers, Şeyda Yıldırım and Kübranur Aslan, for a confidentiality order on the file and for the hearings to be held in closed session was denied by the court.

In his defense during the hearing, Somer Sivrioğlu stated that he and his partner, Kadri Berk Cemal, opened the restaurant after performing only minor renovations.

''IF I HAD KNOWN, I WOULD NOT HAVE RENTED IT''

Stating that he lives in Sydney and came to Turkey for a program, Sivrioğlu said, "I arrived in Turkey from abroad on May 18, and the incident occurred 3 days later. Looking from the outside, it was not apparent that the retaining wall was dangerous. I could not have guessed that the retaining wall was our responsibility. Since there was a one-meter distance between the restaurant and the wall, I thought the responsibility for the retaining wall belonged to the municipality. If I had known it was dangerous, I would not have rented it in the first place" he stated.

Defendant Kadri Berk Cemal stated that they did not have an inspection conducted regarding the condition of the restaurant's surroundings during the sub-leasing phase in December 2021.

Cemal argued that the retaining wall did not appear to pose a danger when inspected from the outside, and that they would have taken precautions otherwise. He noted that according to the map provided by the Licensed Map and Cadastre Engineers and Offices, the retaining wall was under the responsibility of the IMM.

''ARREST REQUESTED''

Burhan Köroğlu, who was heard as a witness at the hearing, described how the restaurant's wall collapsed as if it had exploded while he was walking with the deceased, Ahmad Muhammed Salem Lubbad, and 4 others, and that a large amount of stone fell onto the deceased, who was close to the wall.

Complainant lawyer Nisa Serin stated that defendant Sivrioğlu lives abroad and only comes to Turkey at certain times, and requested that the defendant be arrested or be subject to a travel ban.

REQUEST FOR ARREST AND JUDICIAL CONTROL DENIED

The court panel, in its interim ruling, rejected the request for the arrest and judicial control of Sivrioğlu, citing that there was no suspicion of flight risk or the destruction, alteration, or concealment of evidence.

The panel issued a warrant for the forced appearance of defendant Kazım Evirgen and decided to write to the Licensed Map and Cadastre Engineers and Offices to have the map showing the boundary between the restaurant and the retaining wall sent to the court.

FROM THE INDICTMENT

The indictment prepared by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office states that the retaining wall in front of a restaurant on Nispetiye Street in Etiler neighborhood collapsed on May 21, 2022.

The indictment, which notes that 1 person was injured and 1 person died due to the collapse, states that although the defendants were in a position to foresee that the collapse of the garden wall could cause death or injury, they continued to use the wall without having licensing, maintenance, renovation, repair, or reinforcement procedures carried out.

The indictment records that as a result of the defendants' failure to act with due care and attention, they caused the injury of complainant Baha Eddin Ali Hafez Shanableh and the death of Ahmad Muhammed Salem Lubbad, and requests that the defendants Somer Sivrioğlu, Sakine Öçal, Gülay Kula, Sevinç Kula, Mehmet Levent Kula, Kazım Evirgen, and Kadri Berk Cemal be sentenced to prison terms ranging from 2 years and 8 months to 22 years and 6 months for the crime of "causing the death or injury of one or more persons through conscious negligence".