The trial of the defendant Ağaçhanlı in the Özgür Ekinci murder case continued

The incident took place in the evening hours of September 19, 2024, in the rural Ağaçhan District of Çermik district. Özgür Ekinci, who worked as a philosophy teacher at Çermik Hakan Bahçeci Anatolian High School, was found shot with 8 bullets in front of the garden wall of a house. Upon notice, gendarmerie and medical teams were dispatched to the scene. During the checks, it was determined that Ekinci had lost his life. Gendarmerie teams investigating the scene found 8 empty cartridges.

Ekinci's body was buried in Yeniköy Cemetery in Bağlar district after the autopsy at Diyarbakır Forensic Medicine Institute.

SUSPECT CAUGHT IN GERMANY

During the investigation into the murder, a red notice was issued on January 21, 2025 for the suspect Ramazan Ağaçhanlı, who was determined to have gone abroad. As a result of the work carried out in coordination with JASAT teams, Interpol/Europol Department and German Interpol units, Ağaçhanlı was caught in the house where he was hiding in Frankfurt, Germany, and brought to Türkiye. After his procedures at the gendarmerie, Ağaçhanlı was arrested at the courthouse to which he was transferred and sent to prison for the crime of "intentional murder". Within the scope of the investigation, suspect Hikmet E. was also caught and detained. Hikmet E. was released by the court with a judicial control order.

LIFE PRISON WAS REQUESTED

In the indictment prepared against the suspects, aggravated life imprisonment and imprisonment from 12 to 23 years were requested for the defendant Ağaçhanlı for the crimes of 'premeditated murder', 'deprivation of liberty', 'purchasing or carrying or possessing unlicensed firearms and bullets' and 'qualified plunder'. A prison sentence of 6 months to 5 years was requested for the unarrested defendant Hikmet E. for the crime of 'destroying, concealing and altering criminal evidence'.

'IT IS AN INSTANT EVENT'

Arrested defendant Ramazan Ağaçhanlı attended the 5th hearing of the case at Ergani High Criminal Court via the Audio and Video Information System (SEGBİS) from the penal institution where he is located. The family lawyers of the defendant, Hikmet E. and the victim Özgür Ekinci were also present at the hearing. Ramazan Ağaçhanlı, who was given the floor at the hearing, claimed in his defense that he had no intention of killing Özgür Ekinci and said:

"I know Özgür Ekinci closely. He was dealing with the stock market business in 2023. When Özgür asked me for a loan, I lent him money. At first, I lent him 15-20 thousand dollars. He was constantly asking for money, saying 'I am constantly managing this money.' Finally, I was disturbed by this situation and asked him to pay the debts I had given him. On the day of the incident, we were going to talk about this loan issue. I picked up Özgür with the car I rented at a place close to his house at noon. I had to sell my car because of Özgür. While we were on the way to Siverek, we stopped in Ağaçhan village. I told Özgür that he had to pay the debt and that I had written down all his debts in the book. However, he responded by saying, 'Accept this debt as 1 million 500 thousand TL or leave.' Meanwhile, a gun was fired between us and Özgür. silahımı almaya çalışmaya devam ediyordu. Ben de bunun üzerine Özgür'ün bacağına doğru 5 el silahla ateş ettim. Daha sonra araca binerek olay yerinden uzaklaştım. Silahı Siverek'e geçerken yolda bir yere attım. İddia edildiği üzere Özgür'ün telefonunu almadım. Ben Özgür'e borç verdiğim için ben de yüklü miktar borç altına girdim. Hatta kredi dahi çekmiştim. Maddi ve manevi olarak çöktüm. Psikolojik olarak çöküş aşamasında olduğum için ve borçlarımı ödeyemediğimden dolayı çevremde hakaretlere maruz kaldım. Ama aklımda "There was never any intention to kill Özgür. It was a momentary incident. I do not want to be exempt from the trials."

THE HEARING HAS BEEN POSTPONED

Following the defenses made at the hearing, the court decided to continue Ramazan Ağaçhanlı's detention, taking into account the current state of evidence in the file. In addition, it was decided to revoke the judicial control order given against the suspect Hikmet E., to conduct an examination of the weapons and cartridges used in the incident, and to examine the HTS and signal base information of Özgür Ekinci's phone. The hearing was postponed until November 10.