Accounts of four eyewitnesses, who were fellow activists of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, were included in an investigation by Turkish prosecutors into the killing of a Turkish-U.S. activist. Eygi was shot dead on Sept. 6 in Nablus, Palestine, as she was protesting Israel’s occupation, allegedly by sniper fire. Israeli authorities have admitted the shooting but concluded that Eygi was accidentally shot.
The Chief Prosecutor’s Office in the capital of Ankara has launched an investigation into the killing of Eygi, who was buried in western Türkiye, her ancestral homeland. Media reports say the translation of documents sent to Türkiye by Palestinian judiciary authorities about the killing was completed. Prosecutors included the statements of eyewitnesses to the probe on charges of deliberate manslaughter against Israeli authorities. Eyewitnesses are U.S. activist Alex Edward Harrison Chabbott, British national Dominic Robin Sedol, Australian activist Helen Maria O’Sullivan and Israeli activist Jonathan Polak Pasternak.
Turkish prosecutors collected most of the evidence regarding the incident from crime scene photos and footage and an autopsy report as they sought to identify the shooter or shooters and their superiors.
Eygi was in Beita, Nablus, for a peace meeting and march attended by activists from around the globe. Israeli troops first fired tear gas on the crowd before proceeding to storm a Palestinian home in the area. It is believed that Israeli snipers took position on the roof of this house and opened fire on activists, killing Eygi in the process.
Eyewitness Chabbott said they were part of a peace movement called Fazaa and took shelter in a place far from the area where Israeli troops fired tear gas. He stated that they then heard gunfire nearby and noticed it was fired by soldiers on the roof of a house. “I saw them moving on the roof and watching us. We started to flee after hearing the gunfire. Ayşenur was about two meters (about 6.5 feet) to my left,” Chabbott said in his translated statement. “She was running but fell down. She was shot in the back. I think she was deliberately targeted,” he said in his statement.
Activist Dominic Robin Sedol said that they were in the area to document violence by Israeli troops against Palestinians before soldiers confronted them. Sedol corroborated Chabbott’s statement about snipers positioned on the roof. “We ran to take cover behind olive trees there. Ayşenur was hiding, too. Then, we heard at least two gunshots. I heard Ayşenur and someone next to her screaming. Then, I saw her on the ground. Israeli occupation soldiers directly targeted her,” Sedol said.
O’Sullivan said they started running when people started yelling that soldiers were firing live bullets. She said Ayşenur was in the line of sight of troops and she fell when they heard the second gunshot. “I lifted her. I was not aware that she was injured. I only noticed it when I saw her eyes rolling and blood trickling from the left side of her head and nose,” O’Sullivan said. She underlined that there were no armed people in the immediate area other than Israeli soldiers and gunfire was from the side where soldiers were standing. O’Sullivan said they were engaged in a peaceful protest at the time of the attack and they were not involved in any way in any act of violence.
Israeli eyewitness Pasternak said he heard someone calling his name after he heard the second gunshot. “She was calling for help with Ayşenur. I ran towards them. She was lying on the ground and people were around her. I saw a massive amount of blood on the left side of her head. I turned to the roof of the house and saw soldiers still standing there,” he testified.
A preliminary investigation by the Israeli army found that Eygi was “highly likely” hit “indirectly and unintentionally” by Israeli fire targeting a main instigator during the protest.
However, video evidence and eyewitness accounts have contradicted Israel's version of events. A recent report by The Washington Post revealed that Eygi was shot more than 30 minutes after the peak of confrontations in Beita and about 20 minutes after protesters had moved over 200 yards down the main road, away from Israeli forces.
A post-mortem examination of Eygi in Türkiye also said she was killed by a long-distance shot.
Eygi's family says she was killed in a targeted attack and is calling on the U.S. government to launch an independent investigation into her killing, similar to the one being conducted by the Turkish government.
Ankara said it would safeguard Eygi’s rights and deliver a report and evidence to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which would also be presented to the ongoing trial of Israeli perpetrators of crimes in Gaza at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
