Report: Flotilla activists shot at close range
Autopsy conducted by Turkish doctors reveals nine men on board Mavi Marmara were shot a total of 30 times, some in head. Israeli official: Number of bullets found in bodies does not alter fact that soldiers were acting in self defense
Nine Turkish men on board the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara ship were shot a total of 30 times and five were killed by gunshot wounds to the head, according to the results of an autopsy performed by doctors in Turkey, obtained by the Guardian.
The British newspaper reports Sunday that the killed activists were peppered with 9mm bullets, many fired at close range.
The results revealed that, Ibrahim Bilgen, 60, was shot four times in the temple, chest, hip and back. US citizen Fulkan Dogan, 19, was shot five times from less that 45cm, in the face, in the back of the head, twice in the leg and once in the back.
Yalcin Buyuk, vice-chairman of the Turkish council of forensic medicine, said two other men were shot four times, and five of the victims were shot either in the back of the head or in the back.
One of the doctors said that all but one of the bullets retrieved from the bodies came from 9mm rounds. Of the other round, he said, "It was the first time we have seen this kind of material used in firearms. It was just a container including many types of pellets usually used in shotguns. It penetrated the head region in the temple and we found it intact in the brain."
According to British Parliament Member Andrew Slaughter, the findings harm Israel's version. "Given the very disturbing evidence which contradicts the line from the Israeli media and suggests that Israelis have been very selective in the way they have addressed this, there is now an overwhelming need for an international inquiry," he said.
A spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in London told the Guardian on Friday night that the number of bullets found in the bodies did not alter the fact that the soldiers were acting in self defense.
"The only situation when a soldier shot was when it was a clearly a life-threatening situation. Pulling the trigger quickly can result in a few bullets being in the same body, but does not change the fact they were in a life-threatening situation," the official said.
