Gülistan Doku investigation: Testimony of arrested chief physician revealed

In the investigation into university student Gülistan Doku, who has been missing in Tunceli since January 5, 2020, another arrest has been made. Following the arrest of 10 people, including the son and bodyguard of the then-governor of Tunceli, chief physician Çağdaş Özdemir was also arrested after it was determined that hospital camera records had been deleted. This brings the number of people arrested in the case to 11.

Details regarding the testimony given by Özdemir, who was arrested as part of the investigation, to the police have also emerged. The chief physician claimed that he did not have the authority to delete or edit hospital records.

"I HAVE NEITHER THE AUTHORITY NOR THE KNOWLEDGE"

When asked who performed the deletion and correction of records at Tunceli State Hospital in 2019 and 2020, Özdemir said, "These personnel and the company itself were authorized to delete, correct, or add to hospital records; neither I nor any other hospital employee had such authority. Not only was there no authority, but there was also no knowledge or skill. I do not have the authority or the skill regarding this matter either. I would like to explain the deletion process with an example; if a person named A is registered incorrectly due to a TCKN (Turkish ID number) error during hospital admission, the polyclinic or emergency secretary who opened the record in the IT system has the written document signed by 2 deputy directors, provides the referral, and submits the petition in writing to Yücel Bey. Yücel Bey performs the necessary deletion, correction, and addition operations. These types of matters are not issues that require my knowledge; if they were done before, I have no knowledge of it."

"IT IS NECESSARY FOR IT EXPERTS TO SOLVE THIS ISSUE"

During his interrogation at the police station, Özdemir was also asked why these records could not be accessed later, despite a query made via the POLNET system on January 7. Özdemir responded to this question by saying, "I know that the POLNET system in question is a query system used by police officers. I also know that POLNET receives data from the hospital. If such a POLNET query was made on January 7 and a report was drawn up, then presumably such a thing exists. If these records cannot be accessed afterwards, they have been deleted. I have no information as to whether there is any other explanation; it is necessary for IT experts to solve this issue. My opinion is that they were likely deleted."

HE SHIFTED THE RESPONSIBILITY TO THE IT DEPARTMENT

Özdemir was also asked whether he had received instructions regarding the deletion of hospital records belonging to Gülistan Doku. The chief physician argued that the operations were carried out entirely by the IT department and the software company. "These are operations that are entirely under the responsibility and control of the IT staff and the software company, Sisoft. I did not have such authority in my user permissions at that time. We have a service contract with the company. I have user permissions regarding normal Polyclinic Services and Hospital statistics. Since I have no information about this matter, I do not know who performed or ordered the deletion. No one gave me instructions to perform this operation, nor could they, because I am not someone who would do such a bad thing; it is a situation that does not befit my professional ethics or personal character. Since I have no financial or moral problems, no one can make me perform such illegal, wrong operations with any promise," he stated.

News Source: 12punto