Travel ban lifted for police officers who captured Bora Kaplan... Ankara Police Chief and Prosecutor will not be heard 'for now'...

The trial continued for police officers accused of negligence in the escape abroad of Serdar Sertçelik, who was both a defendant and a secret witness in the case following the operation against Ayhan Bora Kaplan, who is alleged to be the leader of a criminal organization. While the request by the lawyer for one of the defendants, former Ankara Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime (KOM) Branch Manager Kerem Gökay Öner, to have Ankara Police Chief Engin Dinç and Prosecutor Mustafa Kaya, who conducted the Ayhan Bora Kaplan investigation, heard as witnesses and to have an investigation opened against them was rejected at this stage, the travel ban on the accused police officers was lifted.

Six of the 11 defendants, six of whom are police personnel, attended the third session of the trial held at the 13th Criminal Court of First Instance today along with their lawyers. At the beginning of the hearing, the presiding judge, who read the documents received by the file, stated that no response had been given to the letter sent to the Ankara Police Department regarding the status of secret witness Serdar Sertçelik, who is currently detained in Hungary, and initially used the term "defendant" for Sertçelik, before correcting himself by saying, "Let's call him 'the aforementioned'."

Meanwhile, the judge's phone rang. After answering the phone and saying, "Wrong number. I am conducting a hearing. Be careful with the phone," the judge added, "They call randomly, wherever they find the number."

FROM FAMILIARITY WITH THE PROSECUTOR

During the phase of receiving requests from the defendants and their lawyers, Commissioner Ufuk Gültekin presented WhatsApp correspondence he had with Prosecutor Mustafa Kaya regarding the report prepared about Serdar Sertçelik, which stated, "There is a risk in detaining him." He stated that Prosecutor Kaya had given the instruction in question and that he had forwarded this instruction to Commissioner Gökhan Karaca as it did not fall within his own area of responsibility.

Upon this, the presiding judge asked, "Why was such correspondence held with you?" The following dialogue then took place:

U. Gültekin: I have been working with the Prosecutor for a long time. We have contact. The manager came to the branch later.

Judge: Does it stem from the familiarity between you?

U. Gültekin: Absolutely. My only role was that I forwarded the message.

When Ufuk Gültekin stated that the WhatsApp correspondence had fallen into the hands of Ayhan Bora Kaplan and members of the organization, the judge said that an investigation had been launched regarding this.

When defendant Ramazan Kubat requested the return of his phone on the grounds that not only his personal information but all his company accounts were registered there, the judge remarked, "Everyone wants something. There are those correspondences. An investigation has been opened against our clerk and our manager."

'LAWYER, YOU TALK TOO MUCH'

Former KOM Manager Kerem Gökay Öner, who became a confessor during the investigation phase and accused his colleagues, the other defendants, limited his statement to, "I am before you as a civil servant of the state. I carried out the orders given by my superiors. Other than that, I did nothing illegal." Meanwhile, his lawyer, Suna Öztaşdönderen, requested that Ankara Police Chief Engin Dinç and Prosecutor Mustafa Kaya, who conducted the Ayhan Bora Kaplan investigation, be heard to clarify the file, and that an investigation be opened against them if necessary, stating:

"They did not let Kerem Gökay Öner do his job. They did not allow personnel recruitment. We saw in the WhatsApp correspondence; the superior-subordinate relationship has been shattered. It is impossible for a manager not to know all of this. Şevket Demircan received a salary bonus due to the Ayhan Bora Kaplan operation; but my successful client did not. My client has been excluded to this extent. A letter should be written to the Ankara Police Department to ask who received bonuses. Engin Dinç tells my client, 'I also know things about you, but I have never mentioned them anywhere.' Let him come and explain here whatever it is he knows. If that report had not been obtained for Serdar Sertçelik, he could not have fled. It is not acceptable to say, 'The prosecutor wanted it, I did it,' or 'I had no knowledge of it.'"

The judge interrupted Attorney Öztaşdönderen's defense with the words, "That is enough, Lawyer, you talk too much."

Recep Öksüz, the lawyer for former KOM Branch Deputy Manager Şevket Demircan, one of the defendants, stated that the file was complete and requested that his client be acquitted after taking the Prosecutor's opinion.

The lawyers for defendants Gökhan Karaca, Ufuk Gültekin, and Metehan İlkyaz also reported that the High Disciplinary Board of the Ministry of Interior had decided that "there is no room for disciplinary action" as a result of the disciplinary investigation conducted, and requested that these reports be brought to the court.

When Metehan İlkyaz's lawyer also requested the return of his client's mobile phone and three weapons held in the Judicial Deposit, the judge asked, "Your client only asked for his phone a moment ago. Did he give up on the weapons?" The lawyers clarified that the request belonged to Ramazan Kubat, not Metehan İlkyaz.

NOT THE DEFENDANTS, BUT THEIR LAWYERS ARGUED

After the statements were completed, the Prosecutor was asked for his opinion. With the judge's reminders, the Prosecutor gave an opinion in the direction of rejecting the requests for the return of the phones in the Judicial Deposit and continuing the travel ban for the defendants.

Following the opinion, the judge lifted the judicial control measure of a travel ban for defendants Murat Çelik, Kerem Gökay Öner, Şevket Demircan, Ufuk Gültekin, Gökhan Karaca, and Metehan İlkyaz, while deciding to reject the request to hear Ankara Police Chief Engin Dinç and Prosecutor Mustafa Kaya as witnesses at this stage.

While the judge was announcing the interim decisions, the lawyer for former Ankara Deputy Police Chief Murat Çelik, one of the defendants, said, "My client witnessed that Kerem Gökay Öner met with Prosecutor Mustafa Kaya while he was with him. Therefore, I want the base station records to be obtained and submitted to the file."

Upon this, Kerem Gökay Öner's lawyer Suna Öztaşdöndüren replied, "It is very difficult because Murat Çelik changed his phone repeatedly; but when Mustafa Kaya is heard, it will emerge who he met with the most. Furthermore, my client was not only assigned to this file; he was assigned to many terror and FETÖ cases. It is very normal for him to meet with the Prosecutor."

After an argument broke out between the two lawyers, other lawyers intervened, saying, "These do not add anything to the file. Don't do this, my colleagues, it is not ethical," while the judge warned Attorney Öztaşdöndüren, "Don't get excited."

'I WAS NOT ELECTED TO THE COURT OF CASSATION EITHER'

As the arguments continued, when Attorney Suna Öztaşdöndüren insisted on writing a letter to the Ankara Police Department regarding who was given bonuses, the judge reacted by saying, "I was in the top three in the election of members to the Court of Cassation. They didn't elect me. Now, should I ask, 'Why didn't they elect me?'" When Attorney Öztaşdöndüren replied, "I hope you get elected," the judge said, "Don't flatter my ego now."

The hearing was adjourned to September 17.

Müyesser YILDIZ

January 29, 2025