The father of a 20-year-old student who drowned in the 30 August shipwreck off Kyrenia says the body he was given by the authorities in the north is not his son’s. He has applied for the grave to be opened. Meanwhile, the detention of nine suspects in the case was extended by a further seven days at the Kyrenia “district court”, CNA reported.
Father questions identity of remains
According to a report in the online newspaper Özgür, Gökmen Gönül, father of student Özgür Gönül, has returned to Cyprus because he believes the body handed over to him does not belong to his son.
The body was found on 4 October, 35 days after the shipwreck, and was buried in Mersin.
Mr Gönül told the newspaper that, during the identification of the bodies, families had been warned not to look because the remains had decomposed significantly. He chose to look and saw that some parts of the body had remained intact.
Because the face could not be identified and he had doubts, he went to the “police” in the north and asked to see photographs of the body he had been told was his son’s. The photographs were provided.
According to the father, the body he received differed significantly from the one shown in the photographs. He said a DNA test had been carried out and that the body was handed over to him on 6 October with the information that it was his son’s.
Request for exhumation
Mr Gönül has applied for an exhumation in Turkey through the Turkish “embassy” in the north.
“The body in the photographs they showed me is not the same as the body I was given. How can this be? Did they say, ‘since nobody looks anyway, let’s hand over whoever’? The grave will be opened and the truth will come out,” he said.
He has called for answers on how the remains were identified and handed over.
Detention of nine suspects extended
The “police” told the Kyrenia “district court” that they had spent 59 days examining data from the VDR (Voyage Data Recorder) and needed a further nine days to complete the examination.
They have also obtained about 2,000 pages of documents from Türk Loydu, the company that carried out the certification of the vessel that sank.
How possible charges will be determined
The “police” said that, based on the response received from Türk Loydu, the responsibilities of those in charge of the vessel will be examined. Once the duties of the crew have been established and their international certificates examined, it will become clear which offences the suspects may be liable for.
The documents held by the vessel’s staff will be examined against the relevant international conventions and compared with the facts and statements gathered. The “police” said the duties and responsibilities of the crew will then be compared and charges against the suspects will be framed accordingly.
Search for the missing child continues
According to what was presented in “court”, search and rescue operations are continuing. The “security forces command” is carrying out flights twice a week, by day and night, while “police” teams conduct daily searches along the coastline for the last missing person, a three-year-old girl.
Defence challenges the investigation
The defence lawyer argued that, during the investigative process, which has now run for 11 sessions, the inquiries had not been carried out by the necessary experts. He said the investigation had so far not established the cause of the sinking.
According to the lawyer, the certificates and class approval documents issued by Türk Loydu had been handed to the “police” at the start of the investigation but had not been examined. He added that a report recording the cause of the sinking also exists and had not been examined.
He said all seafarers hold a seaman’s book and that the crew members were properly qualified to carry out their duties.
The lawyer also said that a person from the “ports department” inspected the vessel on 27 June. He stated that on 30 August the VDR was working, and that the chief officer had reported the device was in operation and informed the whole crew.
Source: CNA
