Verdict reached in the Çorlu Train Disaster trial!

The court panel has reached a verdict in the trial of 13 defendants regarding the Çorlu Train Disaster, which occurred in Çorlu, Tekirdağ, on July 8, 2018, and resulted in the deaths of 25 people, including 7 children, and left more than 300 others injured.

According to the report in Gazete Duvar; it was decided that the then-TCDD 1st Regional Manager Nihat Aslan be sentenced to 12 years in prison for 'causing the death of more than one person through negligence,' with the base sentence increased by 1/2 due to the nature of the crime, the tools used, and the importance of time and place in accordance with Article 22/4 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) No. 5237, and then reduced by 1/6 to a final sentence of 15 years in prison.

The 11-year prison sentence given to Deputy Manager Responsible for Maintenance Service Areas Levent Meriçli was reduced to 9 years and 2 months due to a discretionary reduction based on his criminal record.

The 21-year prison sentence given to Maintenance Service Manager Mümin Karasu was reduced to 17 years and 6 months due to a discretionary reduction based on his criminal record.

The 10-year prison sentence given to 1st Regional Maintenance Service Deputy Manager Responsible for Infrastructure Nizamettin Aras was reduced to 8 years and 4 months due to a discretionary reduction based on his criminal record.

The 12-year prison sentence given to Engineer Tevfik Baran Önder was reduced to 10 years in prison due to a reduction based on his criminal record.

Railway Maintenance Manager Turgut Kurt was sentenced to 19 years in prison for causing death by conscious negligence. His sentence was reduced to 16 years and 3 months following a discretionary reduction based on his criminal record.

The 11-year prison sentence given to Engineer Deniz Parlak was reduced to 9 years and 2 months due to a reduction based on his criminal record.

The 11-year prison sentence given to Engineer Kubilay Başkaya was reduced to 9 years and 2 months due to a reduction based on his criminal record.

The 11-year prison sentence given to Çerkezköy Road Maintenance and Repair Chief Özkan Polat was first increased to 16 years for the crime of 'causing death by conscious negligence,' and then reduced to 13 years and 9 months following a reduction based on his criminal record.

The defendants Levent Kaytan, Burhan Ortancıl, Çetin Yıldırım, and Celalettin Çabuk were each acquitted.

ÖZGÜR ÖZEL ALSO ATTENDED

CHP leader Özgür Özel and the families made a statement before the hearing in the trial, which has been ongoing for 6 years.

Stating that they have been following the case closely, Özel said, "My final word is this; we said last time that we would come back much more determined, much stronger, and in much larger numbers. It is the will of the people that makes this possible. On March 31, they said 'stop' to all kinds of injustice. Those who left the verdict until after the local elections should think again today."

Özel noted that on March 31, the nation stood by the mothers in Çorlu who lost their children.

Stating that the public will continue to stand by the oppressed and the innocent from now on, Özel said, "No one should attempt to reach a verdict that portrays the deceased as guilty and the guilty as innocent. This is not over here. I will not stop pursuing those who make such decisions and those who have violated the rights of the little 3-year-old and 5-year-old children who died in the train accident."

Following his statement, Özel walked with the relatives of those who lost their lives in the train accident to the Public Education Center where the trial was being held.

WHAT HAD HAPPENED?

On July 8, 2018, a train carrying 362 passengers and 6 personnel, which had departed from the Uzunköprü district of Edirne to go to Halkalı, Istanbul, derailed and overturned near Sarılar neighborhood in the Çorlu district of Tekirdağ. 25 people, including 7 children, lost their lives in the accident, and 328 people were injured. The Çorlu Chief Public Prosecutor's Office filed a lawsuit at the Çorlu 1st High Criminal Court, seeking prison sentences ranging from 2 to 15 years for 'causing death and injury by negligence' against Turgut Kurt, who served as the manager at the TCDD 1st Regional Directorate Halkalı 14th Railway Maintenance Directorate and was found at fault for the accident; Özkan Polat, the Road Maintenance and Repair Chief working at the Çerkezköy Road Maintenance Chief's Office; Celaleddin Çabuk, a Line Maintenance and Repair Officer at the Road Maintenance Chief's Office; and Çetin Yıldırım, the Bridges Chief who worked within TCDD and had signed the annual general inspection report in May.

News Source: 12punto