If this happens in a simple case, just imagine the rest!...

At the beginning of the week, the Ministry of Justice's budget was discussed in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). Since injustice is our most painful problem after the economy, spokespersons from all parties, including independent deputies, excluding the ruling coalition partners, made harsh criticisms on this issue.

Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç, as always, reminded everyone that Turkey is a state of law and, specifically addressing the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) investigations, argued the following in summary:

“It is not possible for us to say in advance who is guilty and who is innocent; it is the courts that will decide this. Article 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code is clear. When a report is made to Public Prosecutors, it is their duty to investigate the evidence. While performing these duties, these procedures are carried out within the framework of judicial independence and impartiality. As the Minister of Justice, you cannot tell me, ‘Intervene in the investigation regarding the İBB, stop these proceedings.’ We do not have such authority. No authority or body can give instructions to the judiciary.”

On the same day, however, Erdoğan, even before the İBB investigation had reached the trial stage, called it a “criminal organization plundering the resources of the people of Istanbul” and accused CHP Chairman Özgür Özel of “acting as a carrier pigeon for this criminal organization.” In other words, contrary to the claims of Justice Minister Tunç, Erdoğan decided “who is guilty in advance” before the courts and violated the principle of “judicial independence and impartiality.”

ARE TRIALS BEING CONDUCTED VIA WHATSAPP?

CHP Group Deputy Chairman Murat Emir, who made an open call to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office the day before, asked, “Are you conducting trials via WhatsApp instead of UYAP (National Judiciary Informatics System)?”

In light of these statements and allegations, let us report the outcome of the case we described in our article titled “How Can an Acquittal Be Given in a Case to Be Heard in 5 Months?!” on November 23.

First, let us summarize the event that is the subject of the case.

Rukiye Dağ, the wife of Cuma Dağ—who was martyred by decapitation in front of the Presidential Palace during the July 15 coup attempt and who was also a veteran of that night—was working as a geological engineer at the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO). While continuing her struggle against the “FETÖ structure” there, she obtained the statement of Ö.K., who had been detained for “FETÖ.” Seeing that no action had been taken regarding the names provided by Ö.K., who had benefited from effective remorse, she first reported them to the authorities. When she received no results, she shared some parts of the statement on the LinkedIn network.

Upon this, Ö.K. filed a complaint against Rukiye Dağ, accusing her of calling him a “FETÖ member, terrorist” and also of “seizing and disseminating personal information and documents that were in the personnel files in the TPAO inventory marked as confidential.” As a result of the investigation, a lawsuit was filed against Rukiye Dağ with a request for imprisonment from three months to two years, and the date for the first hearing was set for April 22, 2026.

Rukiye Dağ, who was practically driven mad by this development, raised a ruckus and sent message after message via WhatsApp to very high-level officials at the Ministry of Justice and the Presidential Legal Policies Board, reacting by saying, “You cannot file a lawsuit against me for calling a traitor a traitor. Is this how the loyalty to the July 15 covenant is repaid?”

The officials said they would look into it, and a few days later, a message came to Rukiye Dağ's phone via WhatsApp: “You have been acquitted.”

Rukiye Dağ called the official who sent that message and asked in astonishment, “I cannot be acquitted without a hearing.”

The next day, Rukiye Dağ was called by the court where the case was to be heard. The court staff who called made the following request:

“We set a very late date, April 22, for the hearing. The judge wants to give a date suitable for your situation. Because it will result in a verdict.”

Following this notification, Rukiye Dağ met with high-level officials and the court several more times to figure out what was happening. What was understood was this: Rukiye Dağ would report an excuse, the hearing date would be moved forward, and the acquittal decision reported by the officials via WhatsApp would be made official!..

''WHY DID YOU TELL MÜYESSER YILDIZ?''

After these allegations, normally the world would have been turned upside down, right? But no one cared, and what we wrote was not denied.

On the contrary, officials at the Palace asked Rukiye Dağ, “Why did you tell these things to Müyesser Yıldız?” She replied, “I didn't tell her, she asked. And I told her the truth.”

Let's come to what happened afterwards.

Rukiye Dağ, who called the court, asked what they had decided. The staff suggested that she submit a petition stating, “I want the hearing to be moved forward because I will be abroad on April 22.” Rukiye Dağ rejected this suggestion, saying, “The last time I went abroad was to talk about July 15, and I haven't gone since. I don't have such a program. I cannot lie. You handle it.”

Ultimately, the matter was resolved with her lawyer's petition stating, “I will be abroad on that date,” and the hearing date was moved to December 4 (last Thursday).

AND SHE WAS ACQUITTED

The place where the case was heard was a district in another province where the complainant Ö.K. lived.

Rukiye Dağ did not go there for the hearing but connected via SEGBİS (Audio and Visual Information System) from a courtroom in Ankara. Three July 15 veterans also watched the hearing to support Dağ.

According to the hearing minutes and the reasoned decision prepared by the Court in one week, Dağ only made the following defense:

“I filed a complaint for action to be taken against the members of the FETÖ terrorist organization who are within the state and against whom no action has been taken. After my complaints, the necessary actions were taken. The relevant persons have started to be tried. That is why I made the post.”

However, Rukiye Dağ said exactly the following:

“FETÖ members decapitated my husband right before my eyes with a helicopter. Again, FETÖ members left my child an orphan at 5.5 years old. Yes, I made the post. I know him, he is a FETÖ member. First of all, I am a martyr's wife and a July 15 veteran. I filed a complaint for action to be taken against the members of the FETÖ terrorist organization who are within the state and against whom no action has been taken. (When the judge added the sentence ‘they were tried upon my complaint’) No, they were not tried. Now they are talking as if nothing happened. We have become doormats. Is this what loyalty to the covenant is? You owed your positions, your offices, and your lives to us. FETÖ members had their way, while I was dragged from place to place. I made that post so that fire would not fall on other homes. I am very sad; I should not have been a defendant here upon the complaint of those who have betrayed the homeland. There is no description for this feeling. I only realized hours later that the person who died was my husband, by looking at his phone. I hadn't even seen him during the Feast of Sacrifice; I saw his throat. It shouldn't have been like this.”

Subsequently, while the complainant Ö.K. and his lawyer wanted Rukiye Dağ to be punished, Ö.K. said, “I love my homeland, my state, and my flag as much as anyone else.”

Rukiye Dağ's lawyer asked what the criminal case opened against Ö.K. for FETÖ was. Ö.K. replied, “I was tried. The announcement of the verdict was deferred. It was dropped because I did not commit a crime for 5 years.”

After the statements, the Prosecutor asked for a 2-minute break in the hearing. Meanwhile, Rukiye Dağ, unable to control her anger, practically raised the courthouse to its feet (police came to the courtroom upon the complaint of the judges around) and shouted:

“They are not being held accountable for FETÖ, it touches my blood. While the state allows them to benefit from effective remorse, I cannot remain silent. Have you ever seen a windpipe, a throat? If someone else were in my place, if they saw this disloyalty to the covenant, they would have burned this country down. We do not forgive Apo or the FETÖ members. The state cannot forgive them either.”

When the hearing resumed, the Prosecutor stated that his opinion on the merits was ready and requested that Rukiye Dağ be acquitted as “the legal elements of the charged crime were not formed.”

Rukiye Dağ, who was asked for her final word, said, “There shouldn't have been such a case.”

And the court decided to acquit Dağ as “the legal elements of the charged crime were not formed.”

In short; if these things happen in a simple case, you calculate what might happen in important cases!..