43 Defendants Indicted in İliç Disaster Accepted by Court
Nine miners lost their lives in a tragic accident that occurred in the Çöpler village on February 13. The incident, which resulted in the death of Adnan Keklik, Kenan Öz, Ramazan Çimen, Uğur Yıldız, Abdurrahman Şahin, Fahrettin Keklik, Mehmet Kazar, Şaban Yılmaz, and Hüseyin Kara, as well as injuries to İsa Taşdelen and İshak Demir, has led to a comprehensive investigation by the İliç Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The investigation into the landslide that caused this unfortunate incident has been completed, resulting in a 69-page indictment accepted by the Erzincan 1st High Criminal Court. The indictment includes the detention of several defendants, as well as a total of 38 defendants without arrest.
The expert reports presented in the indictment highlight various factors that contributed to the incident, including environmental pollution and regulatory violations. It is stated that 12 of the defendants are considered principal defects, while 31 of them are deemed to have secondary faults.
The indictment details the events leading up to the incident, as well as the aftermath, highlighting deficiencies in project management, design errors, and insufficient warning systems. The defendants are facing charges of causing death and injury through negligence, as well as polluting the environment by negligence.
The Canadian manager of the company operating the gold mine at the time, along with two other individuals, also face potential criminal charges for environmental pollution. The first hearing of the case is scheduled to take place on March 17, where justice will be sought for the victims of this tragic accident.
