A Turkish court has convicted six people in connection with the death of an undocumented Afghan refugee, but human rights advocates have condemned the verdicts as too lenient and are calling for justice to be served, the Stockholm Center for Freedom reported.
On April 11 the Zonguldak 1st Penal Court found the defendants guilty of the negligent homicide of Vezir Mohammad Nourtani as well as destroying, concealing or tampering with evidence. Sentences ranged from one to five years in prison. All suspects will be eligible for parole in three years.
However, disturbing details have emerged in the case that have prompted human rights advocates to demand a retrial.
On November 20, 2023 Nourtani, 50, who was working in an unlicensed coal mine, was found dead in a forest. It appeared that his body had been burned.
Initial claims were that Nourtani had suffered a workplace accident but that the mine owners chose not to take him to the hospital out of fear that the illegal mining operation would be shut down. Instead, they took him to a wooded area and set his body on fire, thinking he was dead. However, forensic reports found that the Afghan refugee had been alive when he was set on fire.
Forensic experts believe he was likely knocked unconscious and still breathing when he was taken outside and set ablaze.
As the investigation progressed, new findings cast further suspicion on the incident.
Nourtani had symmetrical leg fractures that did not align with a typical mining accident, as initially suggested. Instead, investigators noted pressure marks on his neck and internal bleeding consistent with asphyxiation, indicating that he may have suffered a broken neck due to strangulation, not a fall.
Furthermore, Nourtani’s left kidney was missing, leading to suspicions of organ theft. Though the extreme burning made a full autopsy difficult, family members reported hearing that someone offered Nourtani $20,000 for a kidney before his death. One suspect’s father, a kidney patient, was investigated for a possible link to organ harvesting, but no surgical scars were found.
The suspicions surrounding the circumstances of Nourtani’s death have prompted calls for his body to be exhumed and a retrial to be held.
The Human Rights Association (IHD) in an earlier statement called on the authorities for an effective investigation into Nourtani’s death and to ensure that justice is served.
Nourtani was undocumented and lacked official identification, a factor that rights advocates say contributed to his targeting. According to them, his vulnerable status made him an easy victim, as the perpetrators believed “no one would come looking for him.” Additionally, one of the suspects was affiliated with the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), a connection advocates argue influenced the court’s decision to hand down lenient sentences.
A social media account dedicated to refugee rights said Nourtani’s wife and three children were “devasted.”
“The court handed down a punishment that felt more like a reward for the defendants. We demand justice for Afghan refugee Mohammed Nourtani!” they said.
“A recent autopsy report from Koç University Hospital’s Forensic Medicine Department has revealed that Nourtani was still breathing when gasoline was poured over him and he was set on fire. The autopsy also found that Nourtani’s left kidney was missing. One of the unanswered questions in the case is whether his kidney was stolen before he was burned. Tragically, because Nourtani was a migrant, his life and death have barely attracted any attention,” said Independent Turkish correspondent Sema Kızılarıslan.
“In the case concerning the death of Afghan mine worker Vezir Mohammad Nourtani, all suspects received what can only be described as reward-like sentences. After the verdict, Nourtani’s wife, Qamer Gul Meliki, said her life was ruined and her children were left without a father. We will continue to stand with the family. Stay in solidarity!” said the Migrant Refugee Solidarity Network.
Speaking to the Sendika news website, which is dedicated to workers’ rights, the Nourtani family’s lawyer, Kerim Bahadır Şeker, said the lenient sentences meant that the verdict lacked deterrence and essentially opened the door for more murders in illegal mines in Zonguldak.
Özgül Saki, a member of parliament from the pro-Kurdish People’s Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) who followed the trial, said the entire judicial process was biased from start to finish and that justice had been utterly disregarded.