IHH filed the criminal complaint against Egypt's chief military officer, Gen. Abdel al-Sisi, who led the coup; Mohamed ElBaradei, the former president of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who began serving as deputy president after the ousting of the government, Ahmed el-Tayeb, the country's most prominent Muslim cleric, as well as administrators of the al-Nour Party, Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II and others related to the coup.
A group of IHH lawyers accompanied by writer and journalist Abdurrahman Dilipak submitted the criminal complaint at the İstanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan.
Making a statement after submitting the petition to the court, lawyer UğurYıldırım said they filed a criminal complaint at the prosecutor’s office in consideration of the impressions of a group of lawyers and civil society representatives who went to Egypt a week ago.
Yıldırım said the coup makers in Egypt should be punished for committing crime against humanity including murder with intent, attempted murder, aggravated assault, looting, torture and kidnapping.
He said security forces in Egypt open fire at pro-democracy groups in the country in a systematic way, adding that they applied to Turkish authorities demanding that they take action for the issuing of an arrest warrant for the coup perpetrators both in Turkey and around the world.
“A humanitarian tragedy is taking place in Egypt”
Journalist Dilipak said a humanitarian tragedy is taking place in Egypt. He said the tragedy in Egypt concerns the entire humanity and an injustice made to a person is a threat made to the entire society.
Dilipak said he hopes other countries will also take action to file criminal complaints against coup makers in Egypt, adding that they may carry the issue to the International Court of Justice with those countries in the upcoming days.
Noting that Turkey has historical ties with Egypt, Dilipak said: “In our belief system, those who remain silent in the wake of an injustice are likened unto a devil with no tongue. The world needs to give up from giving support to Egyptian junta. There is a crime against humanity in question. Those aiding an abetting this crime may one day appear in court for being a part of that crime.”
From the petition
The petition cites the names of 164 people who were killed during the massacres in Egypt and refers to al-Sisi, ElBaradei, el-Tayeb, as well as administrators of the al-Nour Party, Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II and others related to the coup as suspects.
The petition demands the punishment of the suspects in line with the 77th Article of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) which concerns crimes against humanity including murder with intent, attempted murder, aggravated assault, looting, torture, kidnapping, cutting off communication and sexual assault in a case to be filed against them.
The petition also demands the issuing of an arrest warrant for the suspects if they happen to enter Turkey and their arrest and extradition when they are out of Turkish borders in order to prevent new massacres.
