Turkish prosecution reinvestigates ASELSAN engineer's death

[Babur Han]

Turkish prosecution reinvestigates ASELSAN engineer's death

The prosecutor's office earlier established that the crime scene investigation report and the autopsy report were incomplete and contradictory.



The Ankara Prosecutor's Office has reopened the investigation into the suspicious death of ASELSAN engineer Hüseyin Başbilen, who was found dead in his car on Aug. 7, 2006, and was declared to have committed suicide.

The case was reopened after Başbilen's father requested that the Ankara Prosecutor's Office carry out a deeper investigation, and documents are being examined further. The prosecutor's office is focusing on the suicide note that was allegedly found at the scene.

The prosecutor's office earlier established that the crime scene investigation report and the autopsy report were incomplete and contradictory.

According to the crime scene investigation report, the team discovered a computer-typed suicide note dated Aug. 4, 2006. They investigated Başbilen's office computer and reported that they had discovered the suicide note in a file with the same date.

However, the prosecutor's office established that the suicide note found in Başbilen's car had not been prepared on a computer and that Başbilen did not go to work on the day in question; they also did not find a suicide note on his office computer or anything else related to a suicide.

The gendarme who investigated the crime scene was interrogated by prosecutors a couple of weeks ago; he claimed the suicide note was on a memory stick, adding that he gave it to his superiors. The prosecutor's office has summoned the entire crime scene investigation team to testify in order to find the memory stick in question and announced it will launch legal action against the team if it is not found.

Another development earlier reported by the prosecutor's office was that Başbilen's autopsy report was not verified by the Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK), and therefore the report is not legitimate.

The autopsy report and a video recorded by the crime scene investigation team on the day Başbilen's body was found were sent to the ATK during the previous investigation. Though the autopsy report said the cut on his throat was 2 to 3 centimeters deep, the video showed it was about 20 centimeters deep and that there was no blood on his fingers.

Mechanical engineer Başbilen, 31, known for his contributions to important projects at ASELSAN, a defense contractor that produces technology for the Turkish military, was found dead inside a car on Pursaklar-Ayancık Street in Ankara on Aug. 7, 2006, with serious cuts to his neck and wrist. The original autopsy concluded he had committed suicide. However, evidence supports the suspicion that he was murdered.

Turkish prosecution reinvestigates ASELSAN engineer's death | General | World Bulletin