The expert committee requested withdrawal in the Saitbey Sitesi case, where 44 people died.

In the Saitbey Sitesi case, where 44 people lost their lives in the earthquakes on February 6th centered in Kahramanmaraş, the expert witness panel submitted a petition to the Kahramanmaraş 4th Heavy Penal Court requesting withdrawal. The expert witness panel claimed that they and their families were targeted.

In the earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş on February 6th, 44 people lost their lives in Saitbey Sitesi, which collapsed in Dulkadiroğlu district of Kahramanmaraş. In the second hearing held on January 19th at the Kahramanmaraş 4th Heavy Penal Court, construction site manager Halil İbrahim Us, who was under arrest, was released under judicial control. In the third hearing held on April 19th, the court decided to send the file back to the expert witness.

2 DEFENDANTS WERE RELEASED AFTER THE EXPERT WITNESS REPORT

In the new expert witness report prepared by the experts determined by the court, it was stated that the collapse was not due to ground conditions. In the expert witness report, it was emphasized that the contractor Hasan Çam was primarily at fault, and the following was recorded:

"It has been determined that there is a technical causation between the construction carried out by the defendant Hasan Çam, which is contrary to the approved reinforced concrete project, and the collapse, and that the defendant Hasan Çam is primarily at fault for this reason. It has been concluded that it cannot be definitely stated from a technical perspective that the construction site managers Murat Kaş and Halil İbrahim Us, as well as the defendants Halil Yıldız, the authorized representative of Sehay Construction Inspection company, and Yavuz Kaygısız, the implementation inspector, did not fulfill their duties and responsibilities, and therefore no fault can be attributed."

After the expert witness panel's report, Halil Yıldız and Yavuz Kaygısız were released on July 18th.

EXPERT WITNESS PANEL REQUESTED WITHDRAWAL

The academics in the expert witness panel wrote a petition to the Kahramanmaraş 4th Heavy Penal Court requesting withdrawal. The expert witness panel claimed that they and their families were targeted. The withdrawal request petition included the following statements:

"We have been appointed as expert witnesses in many lawsuit files by multiple courts, including your honorable court. Within the scope of the assignments, after the dates of the minutes of instruction prepared by the instruction department and the delivery of the files to us, the expert witness reports, which were formed by the contributions of each member of the panel through long-term work and intensive effort within the scope of their expertise, started to be uploaded via the UYAP system.

"WE HAVE BEEN SUBJECTED TO A LYNCH CAMPAIGN"

At this stage, the members of the panel, who act impartially and independently and make honesty their principle, who serve in International Arbitration files, who serve in thousands of files in Istanbul Courthouses, and whose reports are described as "commendable" by Istanbul Regional Courts, have been subjected to an unjust, biased manner and a lynch campaign with defamatory comments and news on some social media platforms and TV channels, even openly stating their names and the institutions they work for. These defamatory accusations made by individuals who are not experts in the subject matter, without reading the content of the file, without examining the approved projects, without seeing the details of the static calculations, and without conducting structural analyses, are still ongoing on social platforms.

"WE ARE BEING TARGETED"

In a process where the names of the panel members and the institutions they work for are clearly stated, where they and their families are targeted, and where statements even reaching the level of threats are fearlessly made, it has been observed that no action has been taken by the competent authorities and institutions.

As a result of the justifications mentioned above, it has emerged that due to the elimination of the opportunity to work impartially and independently, the panel cannot contribute to the lawsuit file in any way. Moreover, in all these processes, our academic studies have been greatly disrupted. It has been understood that we cannot fulfill our expert witness duties within the specified period due to the abundance of our doctoral, master's, and undergraduate courses, the high number of students we advise, and administrative duties and membership in scientific boards.

Finally, within the scope of the justifications mentioned above; we apologize for all the expert witness assignments given to the members of the panel and respectfully request the necessary actions to be taken."

"WITH THIS LAST EXPERT WITNESS REPORT, THE KILLERS OF MY FAMILY WERE RELEASED"

Tuba Erdemoğlu, who lost her father Hasan, mother Hatice, sister Sudenaz, and grandfather Ökkeş Çayırcı in Saitbey Sitesi, evaluated the process. Erdemoğlu stated the following:

"We have completed 4 hearings in the Saitbey Sitesi case. We have been fighting for justice for 18 months. In the expert witness report from Karadeniz Technical University, the defendants; Halil Yıldız, Yavuz Kaygısız, Melike Yıldız, Halil İbrahim US, and Murat Kaş were found to be primarily at fault. The expert witness report prepared by the panel of 5 people included the phrase 'no crime can be attributed' for these defendants. How can no crime be attributed? We had a valid criticism of the expert witness panel that prepared this report. Our criticisms have disturbed some people. You withdraw from the case with a document, and the fate of our case is determined by the reports you prepare. Our cases are being prolonged. The people you said no crime can be attributed to have the blood of our loved ones on their hands. With this last expert witness report, the killers of my family were released. They continue their normal lives. While my family cannot breathe under the ground for 18 months, they continue their normal lives. Do they feel any remorse? Are they disturbed? No. But we are walking around like the dead with our families who have been under the ground for 18 months. We are not living."