Road accident abroad

jimmypick

Hi all,

My wife and I were in Turkey 3 years ago when we were in a road-traffic accident. It was my wife's fault (although I think there were mitigating circumstances). A motor-cyclist was injured, but it wasn't life threatening.

She gave a statement at the local police station and both our holiday rep (from Thomson) and a witness to the accident, who was English and who had lived in Turkey for several years, told us there would be no follow up.

However, we received a visit from our local police this week saying that we were being asked to provide a defence statement because a case for criminal negligence is being put together in Turkey.

My wife is 8.5 months pregnant and is panicking. Does anyone know of the possible ramifications for us? There's no chance of extradition is there so she has to attend any court case? I know that might sound a daft question, but she is extremely worried at the moment.

Any help would be appreciated.

eDicky

Make it clear to your local police that you are not going to make any statement or acknowledgement of the request or of any proceedings in Turkey, and forget about it. Choose elsewhere for holidays.

jimmypick

Thanks for the reply.

What makes you say this? Would there be any repercussions if we followed this?

eDicky

jimmypick wrote: »

What makes you say this? Would there be any repercussions if we followed this?

I say this because you are in the UK, not Turkey, and you don't need any Turkish judicial nonsense impinging on your lives.

But I am a total stranger on an internet forum, advising without proper legal expertise to avoid any interaction with such an entity in order not to 'open a can of worms'. So you should obtain proper advice from more appropriate sources if you want to be sure about repercussions.

Turkish society is not the same as it was three years ago when you were there. Since the attempted coup and with President Erdogan's consolidation of power a considerable portion of the police force and judiciary have been accused of being Gulenist and dismissed or imprisoned. The main qualification of their replacements and those remaining is loyalty to the ruling party, any tendency to corrupt practice and disregard for the rule of law are secondary considerations.

In this situation old files are examined to see if their revival would have any expedient purpose, and it's likely that your case has been dug up by individuals hoping to monetise their official position. In your situation I would be very careful to avoid encouraging them by any kind of interaction or acknowledgement. You could gently explain the above situation to your local police, who are no doubt (and understandably) unaware of it.

Comms69

Luckily Turkey is a Cat 2 extradition country, so extradition is unlikely.


I would suggest at this stage doing nothing. see if they come back


(what have you done so far?)

jimmypick

Thank you both for your replies.

I have done nothing so far other than post on here and phone a couple of lawyers in Turkey who are listed on the gov.uk website.

I do like the sound of doing nothing. If we follow this advice, are you confident there can be no repercussions?

Thanks again