ERGI JUDGMENT OF 28 JULY 1998 6 any contact. He stated that it was reported that a telephone call had been made to the district gendarmerie headquarters at Ergani at 8 a.m. on 30 September 1993, informing the latter that Havva Ergi had been killed in the clash. An investigation took place at 10 a.m. that day in the presence of the public prosecutor. Copies of the incident report and a sketch of the location were enclosed with the letter. 20. On 12 December 1993, the Ergani public prosecutor, Mustafa Yüce, considering that the matter lay outside his jurisdiction, transferred the file to the relevant public prosecutor attached to the Diyarbakır National Security Court where the matter is still pending. The decision of lack of jurisdiction named the defendants as “members of the illegal PKK organisation” and the offence as engaging in armed combat with the security forces and homicide. It indicated that Havva Ergi had died as a result of gunfire occurring in the course of an armed clash which broke out between members of the security forces who were carrying out an ambush operation on the outskirts of Kesentaş village and members of the PKK who were approaching the village. 21. On 1 April 1994, the regional criminal police laboratory issued its expert ballistics report. It found that the bullet was 7.62 mm calibre and fired by a weapon with a barrel containing four ridges which rotated clockwise. 22. In a letter dated 8 December 1994 from the Principal Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Diyarbakır National Security Court to the Ministry of Justice, it was reported that during the ambush operation clashes spread to the village and as a result a bullet hit the doorframe of a house, ricocheted and hit Havva Ergi who was standing near the door. The investigations into her death were still under way. A ballistics examination revealed that the bullet was misshapen and no material information could be obtained which could lead to a conclusion as to the weapon used. No empty cartridges were found at the scene. Thus, there was no information in the file on the weapon which had caused the death. Since the fighting started at 9.30 p.m. and continued into the night, there was no eyewitness evidence as to what was seen or heard. Proceedings were continuing with a view to apprehending the members of the PKK involved in the armed clash but since they did not return to the scenes of clashes for a long time it would take time to identify and arrest them. As regards the allegations made in the applicant’s statement of 9 October 1993 taken by the Human Rights Association (“the HRA”), the claim that the security forces opened harassing fire on the village was false and was intended to denigrate the security forces involved in the fight against terrorism. It was the duty of security forces to maintain order and protect the population so there could