House Arrest and Beyond for the Police Officers Who Conducted the Bora Kaplan Operation!..

We are going through very strange days in every sense, for the sake of law and justice, that are impossible to explain.

As is known; 1 year ago, a highly sensational operation was carried out at Esenboğa Airport against Ayhan Bora Kaplan on the allegation that he was the “leader of a criminal organization for profit.” As a result of the ongoing operations, 28 people, including Kaplan, were arrested, and a case was opened with a total of 61 defendants.

When it was alleged that the names of Süleyman Soylu and the then-Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor Yüksel Kocaman were mentioned in the statements published as being attributed to Bora Kaplan while he was still in custody, the investigation suddenly became politicized. It was claimed that the Kaplan operation was carried out to target Soylu and the Ankara Police officials of his era.

The case had two important secret witnesses. One of them, codenamed “M7” Serdar Sertçelik, was also the number two defendant in the case; that is why it was revealed that he had fled abroad despite being subject to an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet application.

With Sertçelik's statements from abroad claiming that the police officers who conducted the operation forced him to name certain politicians, the Bora Kaplan case evolved into a “coup” attempt against the government, similar to the December 17/25 investigations.

Especially after the harsh reactions from MHP Leader Devlet Bahçeli, a partner in the People's Alliance, and AKP Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Bekir Bozdağ, the police officers who conducted the Bora Kaplan operation were first suspended and then arrested on charges of helping secret witness Serdar Sertçelik escape.

In the first hearing of the case held at the Ankara 13th Criminal Court of First Instance on July 18, one of the detained police officers was released, and in the second hearing on September 3, all of them were released with a judicial control measure of a travel ban.

The names who were requested to be sentenced to 2 to 15 years in prison on charges of “misconduct in office, disclosure of secrets related to the duty, aiding and abetting a criminal, and attempting to influence a witness,” and whose release was decided after 3 months of detention, were as follows:

Former Ankara Deputy Police Chief Murat Çelik, former Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime (KOM) Branch Deputy Director Şevket Demircan, and former KOM Branch commissioners Ufuk Gültekin and Gökhan Karaca.

Either Arrest or House Arrest

Let's come to the latest situation regarding the police officers.

On the day the release decision was made, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office objected to the decision on the grounds that “there are facts that raise suspicion that they might flee, hide, or escape, and that judicial control measures would be insufficient,” and requested that an arrest warrant be issued for these individuals or that they be placed under house arrest.

The Ankara 25th High Criminal Court, which reviewed the objection, ruled that “an arrest warrant would not be proportionate,” taking into account “the lower and upper limits of the requested sentences and the time they spent in detention,” and decided that commissioners Şevket Demircan and Ufuk Gültekin be placed under judicial control in the form of “not leaving their residence,” and that Police Chief Murat Çelik sign in at the police station once a week.

We had heard that some politicians were also against the release of these police officers. It seems a middle ground like this was found!..

I am not familiar with the file, but the most discussed event of last week was the release of the Dilan-Engin Polat couple, who are requested to be sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison each on charges of money laundering. There was a reaction from almost every segment of society.

The detail we want to highlight in terms of its relevance to our topic is this:

Dilan and Engin Polat, for whom much higher sentences are requested than for the police officers, were also released with a judicial control measure of a travel ban. The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office also objected to these releases on the grounds that “there is a possibility of flight” and requested their arrest. But the court not only rejected this request; it did not even feel the need to change the judicial control measures.

What a strange picture in the name of law, isn't it?!

The Defendant's Petition to Become a Confessor Was Put in the Safe

In the corridors of Ankara, it has begun to be discussed how these developments regarding the police officers will affect the Bora Kaplan case. Naturally, attention turned to this case, which started yesterday.

Two interesting events took place in yesterday's hearing.

The first is as follows:

The Presiding Judge said to one of the important defendants in the case, “You sent a petition from prison and mentioned effective remorse and so on.” The defendant sufficed by saying, “There is no incident I am involved in. Even if there were, I wouldn't do it.” The Judge did not pursue this at all.

In the later hours of the hearing, the lawyers must have been looking for this petition that they could not find in the file and asked where it was, so the Judge made the following statement:

“During the judicial recess, while I was away, the court panel drew up a report and put it in the safe. It doesn't need to be in the safe. I have referred it to be included in the file; anyone who wants to can see it.”

We have reached that petition. Look at what he wrote:

“Dear Panel, I want to tell you about three security-related wounding incidents that I am an eyewitness to, which I could not express during the court process due to valid anxieties, because I think they will cause greater damage that cannot be compensated for in the future, by benefiting from the effective remorse law. Thinking that the more the other crimes within the scope of the file are clarified, the more it will emerge that I have no involvement in the crimes; I convinced my friend named A.K., who stays in the neighboring cell and whom I have known for a long time, to benefit from effective remorse. He is an eyewitness to the Mahfuz Tatar and Erkan Doğan incidents and has partial knowledge of the Semih Arslan incident. However, since he thinks he will make many enemies if he tells the whole story, he occasionally says that he only thinks about telling the Erkan Doğan incident, for which he is being tried as a defendant, and says that if he is forced to tell the rest in the end, he will tell them. An incident happened these days. According to what A.K. said, some people he knows passed by the house where his family lives and told A.K.'s older sister, 'Tell A., don't listen to F. and benefit from effective remorse. We have tied up Erkan Doğan, everyone in this court will be released,' and someone also called his older brother from a hidden number and threatened him. I didn't tell anyone about the effective remorse incident. I guess they announced it this way to shift the responsibility of the testimony he will give to me because I convinced him. I already thought about all the dangers and all the possibilities when I started this business, and I am of the opinion that none of them will be as heavy as the sentence I will serve for crimes I did not commit. If you deem it appropriate, I request that you listen to both of us before the court, and I request to be included in the witness protection program both during the court phase and in the subsequent process.”

Whether what is told is true or not, we cannot know. What we see is that this petition was entered into the records of another court on August 14. Then, according to what the Judge said, it was put in the safe with a report.

Since it was just mentioned in the court 25 days later and then moved on from; it means that either it was not taken into account or!..

Would You Like the Police Officers and Bora Kaplan to Be Tried Together?

Let's come to the second interesting event.

In yesterday's hearing, Bora Kaplan, who made his defense against the witness statements and requested his release, accused the police officers who conducted the investigation and asked for the two cases to be merged, saying, “Let us be tried together.”

The case will continue from tomorrow until Friday, and perhaps next week, and interim decisions will be announced after that.

While this is the situation, after this request by Bora Kaplan in yesterday's session, the Presiding Judge, surprisingly, decided to write a writ to the 13th Criminal Court of First Instance to request the indictment regarding the police officers and the SEGBİS (Audio and Video Information System) transcripts of the hearing.

After all this, come and don't ask, “By the way, what is happening?”!..