12.07.2025 09:52
On the fifth day of the first hearing of the trial regarding the hotel fire disaster in Kartalkaya, which claimed the lives of 78 people, the defense statements of 32 defendants, including Bolu Deputy Mayor Sedat Gülener, who is in custody, have been completed. Today, the sixth session of the trial will be held.
The first hearing of the Grand Kartal Hotel fire case, in which 36 children and 78 people lost their lives and 133 were injured on January 21 at the Bolu Kartalkaya Ski Resort, is ongoing. The sixth session of the trial, where 32 defendants, including the hotel owner and municipal officials, are being tried, will be held today at 10:30 AM.
In yesterday's session of the trial, the last to defend were the defendant firefighter İrfan Acar and Bolu Municipality Deputy Mayor Sedat Gülener. The defense of the 32 defendants has been completed in the trial that has been ongoing for 5 days.
DEPUTY MAYOR MADE A DEFENSE
In the Grand Kartal Hotel trial, Bolu Municipality Deputy Mayor and detained defendant Sedat Gülener made a defense. Gülener stated the following in his defense:
"I have worked in various positions at Bolu Municipality for 20 years. Six months before the incident, the Fire Department was assigned to me. An application was made by the Grand Kartal Hotel. An application was made to the Public Relations Department, and afterwards, the fire department conducted an inspection and identified deficiencies. I am not aware of this report. Our managers working below look into these; I do not look at the petitions. A report was actually requested for a 70 square meter café. Since it is outside the jurisdiction area, we do not have the authority to inspect tourism facilities; we do this upon request. We do this when there is a request. I have no chance to see these inspections, forms, and to conduct a risk analysis. The cancellation was also made by the company. I reject the accusations against me. Since the fire department was assigned to me 6 months ago, this is the first time a cancellation petition has come. I have never signed such a petition," he said.
Recalling that detained defendant Ahmet Demir, the manager of Gazelle Hotel, stated that he called him to expedite the paperwork, Sedat Gülener said, "Ahmet Demir called because he had a document. I said to talk to the fire chief; he will help. I realized when I saw the cancellation petition on my screen. I am not aware of the inspection form prepared regarding the deficiencies at the Grand Kartal Hotel. I would only be aware that it has become a report. I did not talk to anyone about the cancellation of the petition," he said.
The victim's lawyers requested the detention of the defendants İrfan Acar and the officials of Mudurnu Energy Industry and Trade Inc., who are the non-detained defendants İbrahim Polat and İsmail Karagöz, while the defendants' lawyers requested to participate in the hearing via the Audio and Video Information System (SEGBİS).
The public prosecutor, whose opinion was sought, requested that the requests be rejected.
The defendants and their lawyers also requested that the request for detention be rejected.
The court panel decided to reject the SEGBİS request and to evaluate the detention requests at the end of the session.