by Damsi » Thu Jun 26, 2008 10:43 pm
I don't know why what happened to Solomou is being refuted at all. The facts are irrefutable and are there for anyone to read for themselves what exactly happened.
From the ECHR judgement
While he was approximately three metres up the pole he was hit by five shots fired by at least three persons from the Turkish side and was fatally injured. He died almost instantly. The Turkish forces then opened fire in an indiscriminate manner, wounding two members of UNFICYP, a civilian in the buffer zone and a civilian who was standing behind the Cypriot Government's ceasefire line.
As to the identity of the perpetrators, the evidence pointed, in particular, to three persons: a man in civilian clothes who fired from the balcony of the Turkish observation post; a man in uniform standing near the Turkish check point; and a third man in Turkish uniform who fired from a distance of approximately 10 metres.
UN witnesses
1. “He started to climb the flagpole with the Turkish [flag] on it. I then saw a Turkish soldier with a pistol fire shots, maybe two towards this man. I saw blood spurt from this man's neck and he slumped on the pole and fell to the ground. There was a burst of firing as this man fell to the ground and I saw two other Turkish soldiers firing rifles. I was 10 to 15 metres approximately from the shooting. I then took cover and remained on the ground till the shooting stopped.
2. I saw the male climb about three metres up the flagpole when I noticed a Turkish Army officer remove his pistol and commence shooting towards the male person on the flagpole. This Turkish officer was standing in the middle of the road facing in a southerly direction about 30 metres distance from the buffer zone barrier. I then saw two other Turkish army soldiers step out of some bushes on the western side of the barrier, about 25 metres away, and started firing their rifles in the direction of the male person on the flagpole. At this stage I saw an amount of blood appear on the male person's neck just below the jaw line on the left hand side. The male then appeared to slide back down the flagpole onto the ground. I remember seeing the Turkish army officer who had fired his pistol running off into some bushes on the eastern side. At this stage, myself and other UN personnel immediately lay down on the ground. I believe I heard continual gunfire for a period of between 10 and 15 seconds and on several occasions, heard bullets passing over my head. At no time did I hear bullets being fired from the direction of the Greek-Cypriot demonstrators, nor did I see any of the demonstrators with firearms.
3. I saw a Turkish forces soldier approach from bushes further to the north and walk to a position about 10 metres from the flagpole. I saw he was carrying a firearm, which appeared to be some form of assault rifle. I saw him drop to one knee and raise his rifle to his right shoulder. I heard two spaced shots as this was happening. At this point the demonstrator had begun to climb up the flagpole and I had a clear view of him as he climbed higher. He did not appear to react to the first two shots as he continued to climb. I then heard a third shot and saw the demonstrator fall from the flagpole to the ground. I turned away at this point to look for some cover to move to. As I did this I heard a volley of rapid fire shots and I moved a few steps away from the firing line to a depression in the ground where I sought cover
One photograph showed Mr Solomou starting to climb the pole and with one foot still on the ground. A man in Turkish uniform (Mr Erdal Emanet, who was the Commander of the Special Forces of the Turkish-Cypriot police) was aiming his pistol at him. Other photographs and extracts from the videotape showed Mr Emanet levelling his pistol, cocking it and aiming it at Mr Solomou. Another man in civilian clothes (Mr Kenan Akin) was on the balcony of the Turkish observation post and had not yet drawn a weapon. In another picture, Mr Solomou had climbed about one metre up the flagpole and Mr Akin was aiming a pistol directly at him. The videotape showed a uniformed soldier, whose identity was not established, shooting directly at Mr Solomou with an automatic weapon (a rifle).
The Court said:
The parties disagreed as to the origin of the five bullets which hit Solomos Solomou and caused his death. According to the applicants and the third-party intervener, these bullets were fired by two men in Turkish uniform and by another man in civilian clothes who was on the balcony of the Turkish observation post (see paragraphs 14 and 31-32 above). On the contrary, the respondent Government alleged that Mr Solomou had been the victim of the crossfire which had broken out when the Greek-Cypriot demonstration developed into a riot (see paragraph 21 (k) and (l) above).
71. The Court is unable to accept the respondent Government's version of the facts on this point. It observes, first, that it is contradicted by the witnesses' statements produced by the applicants (see paragraphs 16-20 above). None of the members of UNFICYP who testified about the events of 14 August 1996 mentioned the existence of a crossfire before the shooting of Mr Solomou. On the contrary, Lance Bombardier Sanders, Garda O'Reilly, Acting Station Sergeant Hayward and Garda Brennan clearly stated that, from different positions, two soldiers in Turkish uniform and a man in civilian clothes standing on the balcony of the Turkish observation post had aimed their weapons at Solomos Solomou and had fired in his direction while he was climbing the flagpole