12punto columnist and journalist Müyesser Yıldız followed the Bora Kaplan trial: Release requests to be heard on Monday

The current session of the Ayhan Bora Kaplan criminal organization trial, involving 61 defendants, 18 of whom are in custody, began with the Court removing a defense attorney from the courtroom.

12punto columnist and journalist Müyesser Yıldız reported the developments moment by moment

At the beginning of the 18th session of the trial held at the Ankara 32nd High Criminal Court, a dispute arose between the presiding judge and lawyer Sinan Kocaoğlu. The presiding judge warned lawyers not to cross the section where the gendarmerie was seated, stating that close contact between lawyers and defendants had been detected during breaks. Upon this, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sinan Kocaoğlu, the lawyer for defendant Barış Kurt, requested to speak. However, the judge, who did not grant permission, decided to remove lawyer Kocaoğlu from the courtroom on the grounds that he was disrupting the order of the hearing. Lawyer Kocaoğlu left the courtroom saying, "I am leaving, you don't need to do anything."

Following this tension, the statements of the defendants and their lawyers began.

Sercan Keleş, who is accused of killing Semih Arslan—the perpetrator of the Mahfuz Tatar murder—denied this accusation and stated that Arslan had committed suicide. Sercan Keleş spoke as follows:

"Semih Arslan had shot Mahfuz Tatar in the legs; he had no intention to kill. He was devastated when the news of his death arrived. That child screamed that he would commit suicide like a silent cry. But we couldn't understand. My biggest mistake was taking drugs and passing out. If I hadn't passed out and had talked to him, maybe he wouldn't have attempted such a thing."

While the defenses continued, Barış Kurt was seen requesting to speak and apologizing to the presiding judge on behalf of his lawyer, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sinan Kocaoğlu, who had been removed from the courtroom.

HE CAME TO ANKARA FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2017

Zihni Yalçınkaya, the lawyer for Yusuf İzzet Savaş, who is accused of the Mahfuz Tatar murder, explained that Mahfuz Tatar was killed in 2016, that his client was in prison at that time, that he came to Ankara for the first time in 2017, and that he had no connection with the alleged organization during the period in question.

The hearing continued with Bora Kaplan's statements.

Rıdvan Şahin, one of Bora Kaplan's lawyers, compared the opening of this case with files that had previously been issued non-prosecution decisions to "rummaging through trash" and reacted to the police officers and the prosecutor who conducted the investigation as follows:

"We have seen a law enforcement disaster. It turns out there were police officers who did not do their jobs with honor and dignity. That may be; but we did not anticipate that there could be a prosecutor so far removed from justice and the law. The biggest supporter of this conspiracy is the prosecutor. The prosecutor betrayed the law, his knowledge, his school, and his diploma. What punishment the police received; that is not our concern. It does not come from within me to say, 'May God help them.' The reason we want the two cases to be merged is that all the evidence and digital materials related to us came out of that case. Let those digital materials come, and we will see what they said about you."

During his statement, lawyer Şahin projected the prosecutor's WhatsApp correspondence with the police onto the screen to make it memorable, and while explaining some of the correspondence between the police officers themselves, he said the following:

'THEY ONLY HAVE THE POWER TO TARGET BORA'

"What we understand from these is that the side they see is not Bora Kaplan; it is whoever they call the 'Minister of Criminal Affairs.' It means they don't have the power to target him, they only have the power to target Bora."

Lawyer Rıdvan Şahin, who said, "Bora Kaplan also burned Rome," regarding the accusations directed at Bora Kaplan, made dozens of requests for the expansion of the prosecution. Among these requests by lawyer Şahin was the hearing of the investigation prosecutor as a witness.

While the investigation prosecutor was being criticized in this way, information reached the defense lawyers during the break that the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) had requested a defense from the prosecutor, and that the prosecutor's lawyer had requested the hearing transcripts from the court.

The afternoon session of the hearing began with the statement of Feyzanur Kışlak, the lawyer for Uğur Pekşen, who is alleged to be Bora Kaplan's bodyguard. Lawyer Kışlak noted that Uğur Pekşen was not a bodyguard but a warehouse worker, and that the only reason he was with Bora Kaplan on the day he was detained at Esenboğa Airport was to take his car to the service after Kaplan went abroad, and explained the following:

"If my client were a bodyguard, would he work for minimum wage? There are two retired soldiers working as warehouse staff like him. A non-prosecution decision was issued for them. If one of them had gone to the airport with Bora Kaplan, he would have been arrested, and a non-prosecution decision would have been given to my client. My client is here only because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

DIFFERENT REPORTS WERE GIVEN IN 2016 AND 2023

After lawyer Kışlak, Bora Kaplan's other lawyers made statements.

Tarık Teoman, one of Kaplan's lawyers, said that a new indictment should be prepared regarding this case and that the trial should continue after the unlawful evidence is removed. Lawyer Teoman requested that not only the indictment and hearing transcripts of the case in which the police are being tried be brought, but also the digital materials, that the two cases be merged, or if that is not possible, that the police case be made a pending issue.

Lawyer Teoman also requested that the secret witness Ü5, who withdrew from testifying, be heard with his real identity, that the expert who gave a report suggesting that Semih Arslan might not have committed suicide be asked whether he was pressured by the police, and that the doctors who gave different reports in 2016 and 2023 to Erkan Doğan, whose teeth were allegedly pulled, be heard as witnesses.

IT CANNOT BE DONE WITH A POLICE OFFICER WITH GELLED HAIR AND BLACK GLASSES

Bora Kaplan's lawyer, Umut Köroğlu, after showing the panel the footage of a man falling from a balcony, showed photos of the house where Semih Arslan was allegedly thrown from the balcony and explained that there was no sign of a struggle in the house and no signs of battery on Semih Arslan. Lawyer Köroğlu continued as follows:

"On the date of the incident, the Forensic Medicine Institute gave its report. 7 years later, this prosecutor writes to the Forensic Medicine Institute again and says, 'Look at this report again.' The Forensic Medicine Institute points to the Istanbul 1st Specialization Department as the address. But instead of going there, the prosecutor sends word to an expert with the police, saying, 'Prepare a report like this, arrests will become easier.' And the expert gives the requested report. Why doesn't he write to the Istanbul 1st Specialization Department? Of course, he cannot go there with gelled hair and black glasses and say, 'Give a report like this.' They wouldn't let him through the door."

After these statements, lawyer Umut Köroğlu, who requested that a criminal complaint be filed against the prosecutor, addressed the court panel and said, "You are sitting in an honorable and dignified position of the state. This man should not be performing the same duty as you."

WHAT DID POLICE CHIEF MURAT ÇELİK SAY

Lawyer Umut Köroğlu also made the following interesting allegations:

"When Bora Kaplan was about to enter his phone password here, that commissioner Gökhan said, 'He won't give the password, he will break the phone.' Why didn't you give your phone password, you clever one? Deputy Police Chief Murat Çelik called me and said, 'Let Bora Kaplan give his phone password, we will remove him from management and make some bureaucrats managers.' I am skipping the coup attempt against the government. These are a parallel structure, they have set up an office; shouldn't we ask about this? There is a fact; write to the MIT (National Intelligence Organization) and the Ministry of National Defense and ask. This man played a leading role in the acquisition of TRT. He entered there like a lion. His so-called spiritual son was beaten abroad and remained in intensive care. They held Bora Kaplan responsible for this. These are their revenges. Whichever bureaucrat is going to settle scores with whom, whichever member of the judiciary is going to be held accountable, do not use us as a tool."

After the statements were completed, the presiding judge ended the session by stating that they would not review the release requests today so that they would not be separate, as they would continue the hearing on Monday because the requests of some lawyers had not been received.

News Source: 12punto