A Turkish court has handed down light sentences or acquitted public officials tried over Turkey’s deadliest mining disaster, which took place in 2014, prompting outrage from families of the victims and rights advocates, who say justice was denied, the BirGün daily reported.
In addition to the 301 miners who died, 162 others were injured in a fire inside a coal mine in the Soma district of Manisa province on May 13, 2014. The deaths were caused by carbon monoxide spread through the mine by the fire.
The tragedy, recorded as the worst mining disaster in the country, shocked the nation and raised serious questions about government oversight and industrial safety.
A Soma court on Tuesday sentenced 18 public officials to prison terms ranging from five months to just over six months, while acquitting 10 others. None of the convicted officials are expected to serve time since Turkish law typically allows such short sentences to be converted into fines or suspended.
Relatives of the victims reacted angrily to the court decision. “They made us relive the same pain,” said Gülsüm Çolak, whose son Uğur was among those killed. “The public has lost faith in justice. Once again, justice is buried under the rubble.”
Gülfidan Köse, whose husband Erdoğan died in the disaster, said: “We didn’t find the justice we were seeking. They’ve reopened our wounds. Apparently, my husband’s life is worth five months in prison. But this isn’t the end, we will continue to fight.”
The trial of the 28 public officials, including inspectors from the energy and labor ministries, began in May 2024 after a years-long legal battle. Despite a 2016 expert report that found officials had turned a blind eye to safety violations, two ministries initially refused to authorize an investigation, citing legal protections for public servants.
It wasn’t until January 2020 that Turkey’s Constitutional Court ruled that the miners’ right to life had been violated, forcing prosecutors to proceed with charges.
The indictment, which charged the suspects only with “abuse of public duty” and not more serious charges such as “negligently causing the death or injury of more than one person” and “killing with probable intent” attracted criticism from the victims’ lawyers.
“This is not justice,” said lawyer Mürsel Ünder, who represents some of the victims’ families. “After 11 years, those truly responsible, including former ministers and senior officials, remain shielded by immunity. The officials sentenced today received just a few months behind bars for the death of 301 people.”
None of the defendants attended the final hearing. Critics say the case shows a broader culture of impunity in Turkey when it comes to holding state actors accountable.
Fifty-one defendants including the executives of Soma Holding stood trial from 2015 to 2018 on charges that ranged from “killing with probable intent” to “criminally negligent manslaughter.” While the court acquitted 37 defendants in July 2018, it sentenced executives from the mining company to up to 22 years in prison for their role in the disaster.
The families of the victims were uneasy with the exclusion of public officials from the trial. They said their search for justice would not end without the prosecution of the public officials who they said failed to conduct adequate inspections at the mine, paving the way for the tragedy.