The hearing of the case regarding the death of 301 mine workers who lost their lives in the massacre that took place on 13 May 2014 in the Soma, province of Manisa was held at the Akhisar High Criminal Court.

 

The retrial that started following the reversal of the previous ruling by the 12th Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation.

 

Standing trial charged with "causing death and injury by probable intent", Soma Coal Enterprises Inc. Executive Board Chair Can Gürkan has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Haluk Evinç, a member of the mining company's executive board, has been acquitted while engineers Efkan Kurt and Adem Osmanoğlu have been sentenced to 12 years, 6 months. None of the defendants have been arrested.

 

Families reacting to the decision left the hall.

 

BACKGROUND

 

On 13 May 2014, an explosion hit Soma coal mine in Manisa causing an underground fire in the mine, which burned until May 15.

 

301 workers were killed and 162 were injured in what was the worst mine incident in the country's history. The trial began on 13 April 2015, and ended on 11 July 2018. There were 45 defendants and 162 injured workers as victim plaintiffs in the case.

 

Akhisar Heavy Penal Court sentenced Soma Coal Enterprises Inc. Board Chair Can Gürkan to 15 years in prison for "killing by negligence" and banned him from mining business for three years.

 

Soma Coal Enterprises Inc. General Director Ramazan Doğru, mining engineer and Deputy Operations Manager Ismail Adalı, Operations Manager Akın Çelik and mining engineer Ertan Arsoy were handed over sentences of between 15 years to 22 years and 6 months in prison. Thirty-seven defendants, including Alp Gürkan, the owner of the company and the father of Can Gürkan, were acquitted.

 

Izmir Regional Court of Justice 14th Penal Chamber upheld the prison sentences for the five defendants on 19 April 2019. Can Gürkan was released from prison on the same day.

 

The Court of Cassation 12th Penal Chamber, however, reversed the decision on 30 September 2020. The Court ruled that Can Gürkan targeted increased production without taking the required safety measures and that he had set up a ventilation system despite knowing that there was a high risk of fire. It stated that Gürkan, Doğru Çelik and Adalı should be sentenced for "causing deaths by probable intent" 301 times and "causing injury by probable intent" 261 times.

 

All arrested defendants of the Soma case were released on 5 February 2021.