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Turkish brothers finally buried after three years in Belgian morgue

11:28 11/04/2013

The bodies of two Turkish brothers murdered in Belgium in 2010 have finally been returned to their family in Turkey after being held in a morgue for 937 days, reports Turkish Press. Vahit and Naciye Aygun had to wait for more than two-and-a-half years for their sons’ bodies to be released as Kortrijk public prosecutor Marc Allegaert, who was conducting the investigation into the murders, had not completed the case file. The bodies of Suleyman (33) and Ugur Aygun (32), who were shot in the head during a fight with neighbours in Brussels on September 18, 2010, arrived in Turkey on Monday. The bodies were taken to Afyonkarahisar province and a funeral was held in Govecci, a village in the district of Emirdag, the following day. A funeral prayer was also held at the Fatih mosque in the Brussels commune of Schaerbeek, where the family lives, before the bodies were taken to Turkey. Speaking to Cihan news agency before the funeral, Vahit Aygun said the Belgian authorities would not allow them to see their sons’ bodies during the 937-day period. The Kortrijk public prosecutor’s office released the bodies to their family following Turkish deputy prime minister Bekir Bozdag’s (pictured) intervention in the case. The family was required by the prosecutor’s office to pay €140 a day to keep the bodies in the morgue; according to Cihan, a large part of this was covered by the Turkish government. In an earlier interview, Vahit Aygun told the Anatolia news agency that he had sent a letter to the Belgian king asking for help but was referred to the Belgian minister of justice. He added that he had also asked for help from Turkish diplomats who had visited Belgium, and that he had come to Turkey and visited the Turkish parliament, asking for help from politicians. He said, “Although I was able to reach many people, the only person I could not contact was the prosecutor.”

Written by The Bulletin