'Open-close' controversy in the courtroom: Ergenekon case deadlocked at the Court of Cassation

The case against 7 former judges and prosecutors involved in the Ergenekon conspiracy, charged with "deprivation of liberty, misconduct in office, and fabrication of evidence," which has been heard for 5 years and 7 months by the 8th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation acting as a court of first instance, has reached a deadlock. Mehmet Ali Pekgüzel, the most important defendant in the case, who interrupted his defense against the prosecutor's opinion on the merits in recent months and disappeared, and whom the Court has merely issued warrants for to be "made ready for the next hearing" for the last five sessions, did not attend today's hearing either. While the court decided to issue another warrant for him to be present at the next session, plaintiff attorney Erkin Etike submitted a petition for Pekgüzel's arrest. One of the plaintiffs, İbrahim Özcan, reacted to the panel, saying, "You could not make the defendants present. Do not sacrifice this case to the ambitions of politicians."

In today's session, where only defendant Hüsnü Çalmuk and plaintiffs İbrahim Özcan, Murat Yücel, Erdal Şahin, and Muhterem Bağcı were present, the President of the 8th Criminal Chamber read the documents received in the file and stated that it had been reported that defendants Hasan Hüseyin Özese and Mehmet Ali Pekgüzel were not present in the SEGBİS rooms at the Istanbul Anadolu Courthouse, before asking the parties for their statements regarding the incoming documents.

When plaintiff İbrahim Özcan said, "I have nothing to say about the incoming documents, but I have other things to say. Is your court just going to open and close?" the President reacted by saying, "Watch your words. Procedural rules are applied here. I am warning you."

WHY IS THE CASE DRAGGING ON?

Continuing his remarks, Özcan requested that the compensation files at the 12th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation be sent to the Compensation Commission established at the Ministry of Justice as soon as possible, and then noted the following:

"We have been in this case for over 70 sessions. The court is dragging on. This is the Court of Cassation. Our grievances continue. If we cannot voice our grievances here, where will we voice them? The Eid al-Adha is approaching. Do not sacrifice the case to the ambitions of politicians. All politicians are in this case. We have been traveling for 6 years, but the defendants are nowhere to be found. You could not make them present. People have lost their lives."

Upon the Court President's response, "Your request is understood," İbrahim Özcan said, "You do not accept our requests, and you do not make a decision either. Are we to wait for death for justice to be served?"

While the prosecutor requested a decision in line with his opinion on the merits, the lawyer for defendant Hasan Hüseyin Özese requested time, stating that he had only recently been able to establish contact with his client due to health problems, had not yet received a power of attorney, and that they would provide his address for his statement to be taken via instruction. After the statements were completed, the Court President announced that they had decided to accept the requests for time from the defendants and their lawyers, and to write to the instruction courts to ensure that the instructions previously written for defendants Mehmet Ali Pekgüzel and Hasan Hüseyin Özese are not closed and that they are requested to be present via SEGBİS at the next hearing. He also stated that the requests of plaintiff İbrahim Özcan were rejected on the grounds of "the stage the trial has reached and the accusations against the plaintiff in this trial," and that the hearing was adjourned to June 26.

Müyesser YILDIZ

June 5, 2024