The British Alevi Federation (BAF) has expressed its outrage at the statute of limitations decision in the Sivas Massacre case.
In the final trial concerning the fugitive 3 defendants in the Sivas Massacre, the court’s in Turkey decided to drop the case. The prosecutor had requested the dismissal of the case, citing the expiration of the 30-year statute of limitations.
The Sivas Massacre, in which 35 people died in a fire at the Madımak Hotel in Sivas on July 2, 1993, was the subject of the last trial held at the Ankara 1st Heavy Penal Court. Three fugitive defendants were being tried with aggravated life imprisonment. Lawyers claimed that the fugitive defendants were in Germany and their addresses were known but that Germany had rejected all extradition requests.
Regarding the statute of limitations decision in the Sivas Massacre case, the British Alevi Federation issued a press statement on Sunday, September 17th: “Those who set fires are always the same. They are oppressors. Their aims, reasons, justifications, and desires are unified and similar. They are enemies of thought, enlightenment, and progressing humanity. They are those who fear the different, have no tolerance for the different, and harbour hatred towards the different…
“Those who commit all kinds of injustices and lawlessness for their own palaces and reigns do not have justice, cannot have it. This unjust power, in the face of any slight criticism, words spoken against the system, initiates investigations, detentions, arrests, and foreign travel bans in an attempt to strengthen their sovereignty and make their reign unshakable…
“In the 30th year of the struggle led by Alevis, the court process, which has made no progress, unfortunately led to the expiration of this case due to the statute of limitations. As we expressed yesterday, we express today: the Madımak massacre is a crime against humanity.”
