Turkey Prisons Building Contractors Collapsed Due To Earthquakes Up To 18.5 Years In Prison

JAKARTA - A building contractor was found guilty by a Turkish court and sentenced to 18 years and 6 months in prison as the building he built collapsed in an earthquake that rocked southeastern Turkey in February 2023.

As reported by the local daily Haberturk, Thursday, this verdict was the first to be handed down to a construction contractor deemed responsible for the collapse of the building in the earthquake.

Bad building quality is suspected to be one of the factors causing after being rocked by the earthquake on February 6, 2023, which killed more than 53 thousand people in Turkey.

The defendant named Muslum Demirer is responsible for the construction of an apartment in the city of Sanliurfa that collapsed in the earthquake, causing 34 residents to die.

The court previously sentenced Demirer to 21 years and 9 months in prison for being found guilty of intentional murder and causing body injuries to many people.

However, the court decided to reduce the sentence because the defendant's own child died in the disaster, Haberturk reported.

Demirer is one of dozens of building contractors and other relevant individuals detained by Turkish authorities and tried to account for their collapsed buildings, causing the death toll in last year's quake.

Bekir Bozdag, Turkish justice minister who took office when the earthquake occurred, previously vowed that no one would escape punishment for their negligence, causing the buildings they built to collapse due to the earthquake.

On February 6, 2023, a series of strong earthquakes rocked the southeastern part of Turkey, causing the collapse of thousands of houses and buildings. The earthquake hit 11 Turkish provinces and also rocked neighboring Syria.