Baby killers face justice: Tense start to the Newborn Gang trial

Nagihan YILKIN 12punto.com.tr

In Istanbul, 47 defendants, including 22 in custody, appeared before the judge for the first time today. Among them are Fırat Sarı and İlker Gönen, who are accused of profiting unfairly and causing deaths through negligent behavior by transferring newborn babies to the neonatal units of contracted private hospitals.

NO ONE ALLOWED INTO THE COURTROOM

No one, other than the defense attorneys for the accused, was allowed into the courtroom at the Bakırköy 22nd High Criminal Court.

12punto is following the "newborn gang" trial at the Bakırköy Courthouse. The hearing has not yet begun.

No one, other than the defense attorneys for the accused, was allowed into the courtroom.

Victim families and attorneys who were not allowed inside are continuing their protests in front of the courtroom!

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— 12punto (@12puntocomtr) November 18, 2024

The 'newborn gang' trial at the Bakırköy Courthouse has not yet begun. No one other than the defense attorneys was allowed inside. Victim families and attorneys who were not allowed inside continued their protests in front of the courtroom.

12punto is at the Bakırköy Courthouse for the "newborn gang" trial

Mothers saying "My child died" are not being allowed into the courtroom.

Mothers are rebelling in tears, saying, "Do our children have to die too for you to let us in?"

News: Nagihan Yılkın (@nagihanyilkin) pic.twitter.com/K6xxEFZikW

— 12punto (@12puntocomtr) November 18, 2024

A victim mother rebelled, saying, "They killed my baby; as victim mothers, we want to watch."

The mothers who are victims of the newborn gang are not being allowed inside. The mothers are rebelling in tears, saying, "Do our children have to die too for you to let us in?"

The victim mothers were kept waiting in front of the courtroom door for hours.

As of 11:50 AM, the bar association presidents attending the hearing read their names. The hearing includes the presidents and representatives of the bar associations of Istanbul, Muğla, Tekirdağ, Diyarbakır, Bursa, Hakkari, Denizli, Mardin, Van, Kocaeli, Ankara, Kırklareli, Eskişehir, Sakarya, and Çanakkale.

Identity verification was conducted during the trial. Around 12:10 PM, Fırat Sarı came to the hearing for identity verification.

The victim families were allowed inside 45 minutes after the hearing began, following Fırat Sarı's identity verification.

Attorneys waiting in front of the courtroom for the newborn gang trial state that they are not being allowed inside due to an arbitrary decision, despite their petitions.

The Presiding Judge stated that the documents received in the file were being read. Attorney Ömer Kavili reacted, saying, "You are keeping minutes without reading the documents."

PRESIDING JUDGE HAD ATTORNEY KAVİLİ REMOVED

Ömer Kavili said, "You are keeping minutes contrary to procedure. The courtroom cannot hear anything. You are lawless. The trial is over. You are the judiciary of the ruling power. It is like this in the AKP era; you will learn the laws."

The presiding judge had Kavili removed following his remarks.

Following this development, the presiding judge said, 'If anyone speaks without permission from the spectators, I will have them removed from the courtroom.'

The presiding judge called the plaintiff families, who were seated in the back row of the courtroom, to the front.

ATTORNEYS BEGAN TO BE ALLOWED INSIDE

Attorneys who were left outside began to be allowed into the hearing.

When asked about the procedure, the Presiding Judge said, "We will continue the hearing after our working hours. It will last until 9:00 PM."

Attorneys: We have been waiting for 1 hour, why are we waiting, there is no sound.

TRIAL ADJOURNED

The newborn gang trial was adjourned for 45 minutes.

The break is over.

Union of Turkish Bar Associations President Erinç Sağkan is speaking.

Following Sağkan, Istanbul Bar Association President İbrahim Kaboğlu is explaining the reason for their participation.

Kaboğlu: The subject of this case is health services. The judiciary has stepped in as a result of the disruptions in the legislative and executive duties that are under the state's obligation. A child is a human being and has the right to life. Protecting the right to life is the duty and responsibility of bar associations. The right to a fair trial is necessary. The judicial decision must proceed in a fair manner. In this context, the role that the Istanbul Bar Association will play in a fair trial will set a precedent.

The victim family's attorney: While our allegations regarding the defendants in this case are clear, we need to ask the defendants questions. There are 47 defendants and a large number of defense attorneys. In such cases, what breaks the gang is cross-examination. In the Narin file, the request to participate was accepted, and thanks to this, very important questions were asked. We have also worked on this file. We are familiar with the indictment. Let our voices not be silenced."

Another victim family's attorney: Victim families must be allowed in first in the next hearings.

The families will not forgive these defendants. Regarding the organization leader Fırat Sarı, how many years has he been doing this? The Turkish nation will not forgive, but they must make a statement in good conscience.

Defendants should not feel comfortable about this: they should not think that because there are wiretaps, they will not be released. We are legally pursuing them. We are on their heels on behalf of all our children.

HKP attorney: We are facing the biggest scandal in the history of the Republic. As a mother, I say that what the victim families experienced at the door before the court is unacceptable. If we are experiencing these today, it is because of the privatization of the health system. We say that the perpetrators in this case should receive the highest punishment, and as the People's Liberation Party (HKP), we request to participate and demand that no good conduct reduction be applied.

One of the attorneys for the families victimized by the newborn gang spoke as follows:

There are those among the victim families who have committed suicide. These are not even the tip of the iceberg. Most of the families are poor and destitute. It is the poor who suffer in this country.

REPORT RECEIVED THAT CHILDREN WERE KILLED TO DEFRAUD THE SGK

Speaking during the break of the hearing, the Future Party (Gelecek Partisi) attorney made statements that will be much talked about. The attorney stated that various reports were received during the period when Ahmet Davutoğlu was Prime Minister, and noted the following:

The biggest scandal we have seen in Turkey to date. The assets that humanity must protect the most are babies. Hospitals are the institutions that should be the safest. Our people have cast a shadow on the lives of our nation's babies for the sake of money. This case is not just a process for the victims who suffered from the crime. It is a case that the entire society is involved in. In 2015, a report was received by the wife of our Chairman Ahmet Davutoğlu, who was the Prime Minister. In the report received from a professor, it was said that children were being killed to defraud the SGK (Social Security Institution). A complaint petition was submitted. The complaint petition was not processed. It was reported to the Ministry of Health by our Chairman, and a crime report was prepared in 2016. Two weeks later, because our Chairman had to leave his seat, it could not be followed up.

İlker Gönen, Fehmi Alperen, and Dursun Eryılmaz were in that file. If the necessary punishments had been given in that investigation that day, these would not be happening today.

DEFENDANT ATTORNEY CONFESSED

The defendant attorney stated in his explanation, "My colleague from the Future Party confessed in the presence of the court that they stopped following the issue after their chairman left the Prime Ministry. I request that it be added to the file."

The Future Party attorney's voice was not heard. He defended himself and expressed his objection to what was said.

DEFENDANTS WERE ASKED ABOUT PARTICIPATION REQUESTS

The defendants present in court were asked one by one about their participation requests. All defendants, including organization leader Fırat Sarı, replied, "I have nothing to say."

Defendant attorneys requested that the participation requests of bar associations, political party attorneys, and NGOs be rejected on the grounds that they are not persons directly harmed by the crime.

One of the defendant attorneys argued that there was no need for the trial to be held.

After the half-hour break given to the trial, the defenses were resumed.

Defendant Hakan Doğukan Taşçı: I had already accepted a few of my crimes. I gave my statements from beginning to end. I reject the crimes charged against me, such as intentional killing. These are expert reports made only through telephone wiretaps.

I was born in 1997 in Yenimahalle, Ankara. I am a vocational high school graduate. I won the Şişli Vocational School. But because I was working, I chose not to go to school. I worked in 7-8 hospitals. In neonatal intensive care units. I worked at Asya Hospital, Beylikdüzü Kolan Hospital, Reyap Hospital, Güney Hospital, Birinci Hospital, and Florya Hospital.

Presiding Judge: Who do you know among the defendants?

Hakan Doğukan Taşçı: We all know each other more or less. There are even WhatsApp groups. I know Fırat Sarı from Reyap Hospital.

Hakan Doğukan Taşçı: When I first started working in 2015, documents were being tampered with at the first hospital I worked at. I have been working for 10 years. Documents are constantly being tampered with to get more money. Over the years, it is audited maybe 10 times. How do these institutions come out of every audit without problems, and only we nurses come out as guilty? I have not received a penny more. In 70-80 percent of them, there is no pediatrician in the intensive care unit. When that doctor is not there, when we intervene with the baby, they say 'how can you intervene' or when you don't, 'why didn't you intervene.' I do not accept the accusations.

Presiding Judge asked about his conversation with Fırat Sarı on page 35 of the indictment.

Hakan Doğukan Taşçı: Every hospital owner wants to earn more money.

They put such pressure on Fırat, and he expresses it.

Hakan Doğukan Taşçı: Fırat Sarı says 30 thousand TL to the family, for example. He gives 20 thousand to the hospital. He takes 10 thousand for himself. The money definitely went to him; I have never taken anything.

Presiding Judge asks about his conversations with Hasan Bahri.

Hakan Doğukan Taşçı:

The patient I mentioned is a Turkmen patient. He has no SGK. The patient starts to get worse after 2-3 days. It is something I said regarding the doctor's directions.

Şeymuz Çelik was mostly in the polyclinic. My workload was very heavy, it went beyond nursing. That's why I was asking for support from Fırat Sarı.

Hakan Doğukan Taşçı: We don't decide on admitting the patient; the doctor decides that. A visit is made every morning. The doctor decides who will be discharged.

The presiding judge asks about the wiretap that emerged with the arrival of the audit.

Hakan Doğukan Taşçı: A simultaneous audit arrived. I didn't take instructions from anyone during the audit anyway. I am chatting with my friend about the audit. The reason I said 'I handled it' was in the sense that I spoke convincingly.

Presiding Judge asks about the wiretaps made regarding intubation.

Hakan Doğukan Taşçı:

If it has been intubated for 5 days, it is shown as intubated for 10 days. It is done to get more money from the SGK.

Hakan Doğukan Taşçı:

We did the medicine selling business 3 times. The number of units we sold is 60. Fırat Sarı took the money for this fee twice. We did it once secretly from him. What I received is 4 thousand, 5 thousand. I would deliver the money to Hasan Basri. Fırat Sarı had given such an instruction because he took 40 thousand.

Presiding Judge asks about his conversation with Hasan Basri.

Was there no tracking when taking the medicine out?

Hakan Doğukan Taşçı:

There was such a rumor.

Hakan Doğukan Taşçı: I worked at Florya Hospital in 2023, and after that, I worked at Birinci Hospital.

Presiding Judge: Did you always work in the neonatal unit?

Hakan Doğukan Taşçı: Yes, I have always worked in the neonatal unit for 10 years.

Presiding Judge: Why did you meet with Hüseyin Gündüz?

Hakan Doğukan Taşçı: Since Hüseyin is already my friend, we were meeting frequently. We met 3 times for medicine sales, but we also met normally. Let me tell you from the physical tracking report. Once when we met, I gave a box to his car. I was giving normal hospital supplies, but they wrote it as medicine sales.

The doctor said this won't live for more than a week. But by chance, the child lived. This patient is going to die anyway. They said why are you trying to keep this child alive, this child is expensive.

Presiding Judge: Who said it?

Hakan Doğukan Taşçı: Hospital management and Fırat Sarı

Presiding Judge: What did you do?

Hakan Doğukan Taşçı:

I continued. You can see it from the wiretaps. The child lived for 45 days. I said I wouldn't stop the treatment even if it were for another child.

Presiding Judge asked about the conversation they had with Fırat Sarı regarding not discharging the babies.

Hakan Doğukan Taşçı: That day, 4 or 5 patients were going to be discharged. It was determined that my children would be discharged. Fırat Sarı called and said wait.

Presiding Judge: Why did he say wait?

Hakan Doğukan Taşçı: It could be related to the audit, as he said before, when the patient's stay was prolonged, money was received from the SGK, unfortunately.

The presiding judge asks about another conversation he had with Fırat Sarı. He says Doğukan committed theft.

Defendant Hakan Doğukan Taşçı: During the period we worked at Güney Hospital, medicine was lost, and there was a conversation about it.

"I REPORTED GIYASETTİN TO 112"

The presiding judge asked about his desire to report Gıyasettin Mert Özdemir, who was mentioned in the wiretaps. Hakan Doğukan Taşçı replied, "I had already reported Gıyasettin to 112. There were irregular baby transfers at the beginning too. There is a 500-gram baby mentioned in the file. I also mentioned that. I also mentioned the neglected babies. Of course, I didn't have evidence. But if a nurse is alone in a hospital without a doctor..."

"THE MORE FULL THE INTENSIVE CARE IS, THE MORE MONEY THE HOSPITAL EARNS"

Defendant Hakan Doğukan Taşçı: "Before reporting to 112, I was gathering information from the market. I will report it, but what will I report it as?" he said. Responding to the presiding judge's questions, Taşçı said, "As I said, the more full the intensive care is, the more money the hospital earns. Hospitals were filled with this method through 112 irregular transfers, patients who should go to Hospital A constantly going to Hospital B, and patients who should stay for 3 days being kept for 5 days."

Presiding Judge: You have a wiretap saying 'the child died before my eyes.'

Defendant Hakan Doğukan Taşçı: I was called around 3 AM. A friend from Güney Hospital called. He said they had a baby and were told to pull the plug. He says the child is about to die. He called me on video. I am trying to tell him whatever I can help with over the phone. I recorded it on video. I gave these images to the prosecutor's office. The family is unaware of the situation. Also, they made the family write a thank-you letter. I got angry when I heard this.

"I UNDERSTOOD THE BABY DIED IN 10 SECONDS"

Defendant Hakan Doğukan Taşçı: "Fırat Sarı tells me that there is a patient who stayed for 3 days at Medilife Hospital, that he wants this patient to be transferred to Birinci Hospital but couldn't find a place in the hospital, and that he stated he could stay in the hospital until he found a place for himself. Emine Hanım from the hospital management explained the event to me like this. We said okay on the condition that he stays for three days. The patient got worse towards morning. Nurse Tuğçe called me and explained the situation, but her explanation was contradictory; I didn't understand that the situation was serious. We were trying to stabilize the child's condition over the phone. She called me around 7:30 in the morning. I went to the hospital around 9:30.

“THE CHILD WAS BLACK, THE NURSE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING”

The child was black, the nurse didn't understand anything from his color. I told her she could leave and hand over her shift. When I went to the hospital, the nurse who took over the shift told me that the patient's condition didn't look good. When I went and looked, I understood in 10 seconds that the child had died and time had passed. I think a nurse should have understood this. Then Fırat Sarı said, 'Why did Tuğçe call you, why didn't she call someone else?' Later, I called Tuğçe and got angry. Tuğçe told me later that the baby was active until feeding was done, and vomited after feeding was done. Vomiting of babies with respiratory distress is not evaluated well. What comes out of their stomachs can escape into their lungs."

"THERE WAS NO DOCTOR, THE MEDICINE WAS TOLD OVER THE PHONE"

Speaking about the expert report, Taşçı said, "The fault found regarding me in the expert report was that I gave anesthesia medicine to the patient. But there was no doctor there. If I hadn't given that anesthetic medicine, it would have been a bad procedure. When I talked to the doctor, he was already telling me to give this medicine. The report says about this medicine, 'this medicine is used in intensive care units. But it is not given if the patient's heart has stopped before.' But I have no way of knowing this. I had to do it there. There was no doctor in the hospital at that hour. The patient's medicine was told to me over the phone. Mr. Fırat called me, talked to the management, talked to me, and the admission was made like that. I don't believe an organization was established. It is written that I am responsible for the coordination of 11 hospitals. Do I have call records with 11 hospitals and their management, do I have account movements? I have written epicrises. I have done this as an irregular procedure, but I prepared these in a template form to speed up the work. I didn't add them to the files."

“10 THOUSAND LIRAS ARE GIVEN PER BABY”

Presiding Judge: What is the situation at Şafak Hospital?

Defendant Taşçı: Fırat Sarı said that the Şafak Hospital chief physician's office was given 10 thousand liras per baby.

Presiding Judge: Şehmus Çelik?

Defendant Taşçı: He was a doctor in the intensive care unit where I worked.

He said that I used his stamp without permission, and later, after the provincial health simultaneous audit, he called Cansu Akyıldırım and said that I was incapable of stamping.

Presiding Judge: Was he aware?

Defendant Taşçı: Of course he was aware. He was already angry with me because I was scolded by the auditors for not doing this, even though he was aware.

Presiding Judge: Do you have anything to add?

Defendant Taşçı: I am 27 years old. I have been working in this sector for 10 years. There have been mistakes I made, such as selling medicine. I was in financial trouble. I did it 3 times. I have never been involved in any act of helping an organization. I am also complaining about waiting until April when I reported it when Kaya baby died. If a child dies due to negligence, the death of my other children should not be waited for. If these hospitals are not suitable, why do they still have licenses? How can hospital owners solve it with one phone call? Why are those arrested not the hospital owners? If a baby dies due to negligence, is it because there is no doctor there or because the nurse intervened? While there is confidentiality in so many files. People who should be in custody for the crime of intentional killing are outside. I don't think the indictment reflects the facts. There are also things that don't exist. My name is mentioned in the news as a baby killer. I have a family outside, they should think about these. The judiciary is independent. It shouldn't be this easy. I am also saying. There are irregularities, but no one wants a baby to die.

Kaya baby's attorney asks defendant Taşçı:

Was Fırat Sarı operating the Esenler Güney Hospital on 16.11.2023, when Kaya baby died?

Defendant Taşçı: Hospital management

Was there an intervention for baby Kaya?

Defendant Taşçı: There wasn't, I was in Esenyurt. It was 3 AM.

Do you have a wiretap regarding this?

Defendant Taşçı: I said I went and intervened secretly

Why did you say that?

Defendant Taşçı: It has no purpose. I said so, but I didn't go.

How many years do you think this system has been done?

Defendant Taşçı: I don't think anyone did it knowingly for a baby to die, but there are a lot of investigations about this paperwork and so on.

Why did you say it's the nurses here and not the doctors, who are they?

Defendant Taşçı: For example, who is the doctor when the baby died that day? Şehmus Çelik. If there is negligence here, it is his. Why has he been outside for 7 months?

Why have I been in custody for 7 months?

Organization leader Fırat Sarı played with his beard throughout defendant Taşçı's statement and constantly communicated with the other defendant next to him. It was seen from his gestures and facial expressions that he was uncomfortable with Taşçı's statements.

İlker Gönen's attorney: You mentioned that you reported to Cimer. Do you remember when you reported it?

Defendant Taşçı: I don't remember the date, but it was after Kaya baby's death.

İlker Gönen's attorney: You said you were listened to while the organized crime investigation was being conducted. Do you have anyone you know in the police or intelligence?

Presiding Judge: It is not related to our trial. Who knows whom in the police. It was decided not to ask this question.

Şehmus Çelik's attorney: Where do you find the authority to accept the operation from 112 to the hospital? You accepted the Opera baby.

Defendant Hakan Doğukan Taşçı: Accepting 112 is not in my authority.

Şehmus Çelik's attorney: He defines himself as pure as driven snow. His status is neither a doctor nor someone with the authority to accept a patient. With what authority do you accept the Opera baby from a hospital that should be fully equipped, without a pediatric doctor, without calling the doctor?

Defendant Hakan Doğukan Taşçı:

I answered these. The reason I accepted this patient is that Şehmus Çelik was not in the hospital. I have 20 nurses under me.

Şehmus Çelik's attorney continues to ask angrily: Where do you have 20 nurses under you?

The defendant is lying.

Defendant Hakan Doğukan Taşçı: When a patient is transferred, it is notified; when a patient is accepted, it is not notified. Why didn't Fırat Sarı call Şehmus Çelik and call me? Ask this.

Şehmus Çelik's attorney: Did you say at 6 AM that my Opera baby was ex?

Defendant Hakan Doğukan Taşçı: No. I already go at 9:30 and see that he is ex. How can I go at 6 and say it?

Güney Hospital attorney: Do you remember the dates you worked?

Defendant Taşçı: I don't remember exactly.

Güney Hospital attorney: Did you resign, or were you fired?

Defendant Taşçı: I resigned, we had an argument. I had an argument with them about the functioning of the intensive care unit. I called Fırat Sarı, he couldn't solve it.

Güney Hospital attorney: Was the hospital intensive care unit in the 3rd step during the period you worked?

Defendant Taşçı: I don't remember.

Güney Hospital attorney: What were you working as in the intensive care unit, don't you remember?

Defendant Taşçı: We had 3rd step patients, the hospital was the third step.

Güney Hospital attorney: Did Batuhan give a Blue code without calling you?

Why did he call you instead of someone else?

Defendant Taşçı: I worked for 1 and a half years. At Güney Hospital. While working, I taught him everything, he called and asked me.

Şafak Hospital attorney:

Have you ever worked at Bağcılar Şafak Hospital?

Defendant Taşçı: No.

Şafak Hospital attorney: Where did you get the information that the babies died?

Defendant Taşçı: Fırat Sarı had said it.

Let me also say that no baby death occurred at Bağcılar Şafak Hospital. What did you report about?

Prosecutor: This subject was asked. It was decided not to ask this subject.

The trial of the Newborn Gang, which began today, has ended.

Presiding Judge: It will start tomorrow at 10:00 AM. It will be seen as a continuation of this session.

He requests that the courtroom be emptied to take the detained defendants out of the court. Defendant attorneys are trying to meet with their clients. Organization leader Fırat Sarı continues his heated conversation with the defendant next to him.

News Source: Nagihan Yılkın