The Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) has reprimanded a prosecutor investigating a 2009 helicopter crash that killed six including Grand Unity Party (BBP) leader Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu, for negligence in the investigation into the crash, the Radikal daily reported on Monday.

Kahramanmaraş Public Prosecutor Uğur Koç was reprimanded by the HSYK on the grounds that Koç did not conduct a detailed and timely investigation.

Yazıcıoğlu was in the midst of a campaign for the local election scheduled for that year when the helicopter crashed near Kahramanmaraş.

The HSYK's decision against Koç came after a complaint from the State Audit Institution (DDK) was filed against the prosecutor.

The DDK initiated an extensive investigation into the accident in February of 2010 upon the order of President Abdullah Gül and found the deaths “suspicious.”

The DDK said in a report in 2011 that areas where the helicopter was most likely to have crashed were not searched by security forces, while efforts were mainly focused on an area suggested by an amateur search and rescue worker.

The report also recalled that the victims' snow-covered bodies were eventually found by villagers, 72 hours after the crash. The report also said search and rescue efforts were below international standards.

According to Radikal, the HSYK said in its decision that prosecutor Koç did not conduct the necessary investigation into missing and destroyed parts of the helicopter or investigate who may have removed the missing pieces from the site.

A video that was sent to President Gül by an unknown military officer in 2011 showed four military officers, where one is seen to be removing the black box, containing two recording devices, from the front panel of the helicopter, while two others watch. A fourth officer was thought to be the one recording the video.

Some parts of the helicopter were found burned after the crash according to the DDK report.

The incinerated parts of the helicopter included seats, the doors' locking mechanisms, seat belts and the casing of the notepad in which the pilot recorded flight information. Some parts were unidentifiable as they were completely melted.

Cihan