Imamoglu's expert witness trial postponed: His defense revealed

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu is appearing in court today for two separate cases at the Marmara Prison courtroom in Silivri. First, the fourth hearing was held for the case in which he is charged with "attempting to influence an expert witness or witness performing judicial duties" and "attempting to influence a fair trial" due to his remarks regarding expert witness S.B.

In the case in question, it is requested that Imamoglu be sentenced to two to four years in prison and face a political ban. The reason for this case is the criticism Imamoglu made during a press conference titled "The Big Radish" held in Sarachane regarding S.B., who is frequently appointed as an expert witness in cases involving him and his party.

Last December, the judge presiding over the case at the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance was removed from office by a decision of the Council of Judges and Prosecutors. Furthermore, the last session was held under a temporary judge, and the file was sent to the prosecutor's office for the preparation of the final opinion. It is considered likely that the prosecutor will present their final opinion and the court will reach a verdict in today's hearing.

EXPERT WITNESS TRIAL POSTPONED

The "expert witness trial" held at the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance in Silivri has been postponed to July 13. He will move to the courtroom where the IBB trial is being held.

IMAMOGLU'S DEFENSE

Beginning his defense by emphasizing a fair trial, Imamoglu stated that another case was being heard in Silivri on the same day, saying, "While my hearing is currently ongoing in this courtroom in Silivri, another setup, another Ekrem İmamoğlu case targeting me and my colleagues, is being tried in another courtroom in this same building." Imamoglu argued that these files were "constructed with lies, fabricated statements, forged documents, cut-and-paste pages, and secret witnesses."

"A SETUP AT EVERY CORNER, AN AMBUSH IN EVERY COURTROOM"

In his defense, İmamoğlu used the phrase "a 4,000-page indictment of slander," stating, "So to speak, there is an 'Ekrem İmamoğlu shift' taking place here today. A setup has been prepared at every corner, and an ambush has been laid in every courtroom." İmamoğlu said that the struggle against this process is "not just a struggle for individual rights and freedoms, but a struggle for democracy and justice."

In the continuation of his defense, İmamoğlu noted the following:

"WE DID NOT INFLUENCE AN EXPERT WITNESS, BECAUSE THERE WAS NO PROCESS TO BE INFLUENCED"

"Since this court began, you have also been exposed to the processes of changing judges. Therefore, there was a confrontation with an interim judge; you are actually here as the third judge. I am also before you. The subject of this case is that I allegedly attempted to influence an expert witness and a fair trial. I am being tried on these charges. However, there is a fact so clear that it requires no explanation: We did not influence an expert witness. Because there was no process to be influenced. We encountered a very interesting personality. The expert in question had already completed the reports and submitted them to the court. What we did was limited to explaining the content, results, and effects of these reports to the public."

The expert witness mentioned, Mr. Satılmış, had already submitted his opinion regarding me or the case files concerning Republican People's Party (CHP) municipalities long ago. Frankly, when we examined those cases and the files in the hearings, and saw that the same individuals were looking at different files, we were faced with such a 'personality.' Honestly, it is even beneath me to call it a 'personality,' that is all I will say.

In the speech I gave on January 27, 2025, which is the basis of the accusations, this person had no new report to present regarding me; all his reports had already been submitted months ago. Of course, was there a new plan involving the same person? Because there was a system in the Public Prosecutor's Office that consolidated files specific to individuals. This is very clear. I do not know if there was a new report plan regarding me, but as far as I know, there was not. Is there a single word in my speech aimed at influencing him? There is not. Do I have an instruction? Which is impossible. There is not. My statements that day were entirely limited to criticism within the scope of freedom of expression.

"THE EXPERT WITNESS IS STRIVING TO ACCUSE ME WITH LIES AND SLANDER IN THAT FILE"

The results of these reports are at a level that could cost people their lives, and that is exactly what I explained. For example, in the Beylikdüzü Yayla Case, the Council of State, that is, the high judiciary, says: 'Internal audit is sufficient, the mayor has no responsibility.' However, this expert witness comes out, prepares a report, and writes 'Ekrem İmamoğlu is guilty' even though there is no tender cancellation. Is there such an auditor's report? No. In other words, the expert witness is striving to accuse me with lies and slander in that file. If I don't explain this, if I don't complain about it, or if I don't inform the public about this issue, what am I supposed to do? This is my most natural right.

We have identified these cases created through unlawful methods. When we looked at who wrote these reports that specifically targeted me and the Republican People's Party municipalities, the same name always appeared: Mr. Satılmış. Yes, Mr. Satılmış. I am being tried for criticizing such a situation, truly in an absurd case. Unfortunately, as you also stated, the workload is very heavy, and thanks to you, you have to spend time on such an absurd case. What am I supposed to do? When deliberate slanders are being leveled against us in front of the nation, we are not in a position to just stay silent and accept it.

"YOU HAVE A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE BEFORE YOU WHOM 15.5 MILLION PEOPLE WANT TO AUTHORIZE"

We are the mayor of one of the world's most beautiful and largest cities, with 16 million people, by the will of the nation. Our upright stance against these slanders demonstrates a mindset and logic that believes in governing our 86 million people, both as the mayor of this city and as a presidential candidate whom 15.5 million people wanted to authorize in a primary, a figure unprecedented in history. Therefore, I am making moves here not only to defend my own rights but also to defend the rights and laws of my noble nation in the face of the injustices committed.

There are over 8,000 expert witnesses in Istanbul. It is very interesting; the probability of the same name being appointed in 4 separate files out of so many people does not fit into mathematical calculations. I might make a remark, but it is actually 1 in 100 quadrillion! While the chance of this person appearing in 4 files related to Ekrem İmamoğlu is 1 in 100 quadrillion, when you add that the same person was pinpointed for other CHP municipalities, mathematics is no longer enough. I have identified this impossibility, announced it to the public, and requested that action be taken against it. However, what do a handful of ill-intentioned, ambitious people who have entrenched themselves in the judiciary do? They turn around and file a lawsuit against me. What do I say to them? I say, 'Get out of here,' I say, 'Get out of here!'

"THE EXPERT WITNESS DOES NOT JUST WRITE REPORTS; THEY TURN THE LIVES OF DOZENS OF POLITICIANS AND BUREAUCRATS UPSIDE DOWN"

Furthermore, this expert witness does not just write reports, Your Honor. They turn the lives of dozens of politicians and bureaucrats upside down. These false and slanderous reports also affected the life of my dear friend, my esteemed teacher, the Mayor of Esenyurt, Mr. Ahmet Özer. The expert witness officially committed fraud. Within that system, he was arrested and held for 1 year and 10 days based solely on the statement of this Mr. Satılmış, against the joint statement of 2 out of 3 expert witnesses. Can the account for 1 year and 10 days not be given? Along with him, innocent and truly victimized bureaucrats, including sick brothers and sisters whom I know personally, were imprisoned here in Silivri.

People were arrested and their reputations were damaged with these treacherous reports. Through the cooperation of the judiciary, expert witnesses, and the media, character assassinations and reputation hits were carried out against families. How simple, isn't it? How simple it remains to look at the issue only as an 'expert witness.' Look at the point it has reached and the decisions made based on it!

The respected bureaucrats, politicians, and laborers of this country were lined up in handcuffs. Dozens of them. They were filmed from the air with drones, and their photos and videos were served to the media. So, what are we going to do? Watch it and say 'Amen'? We! The character of this nation does not do that. I am not the child of such a nation. The character given to me by this nation and these lands has taught me to fight against injustice. He who remains silent in the face of injustice is the foremost soldier of the mute devil. Let me put it that way.

THE TABLE HE CALLED '1 IN 100 QUADRILLION'

That expert witness, Mr. Satılmış, is one of the links in such a bad and ugly chain of mentality. The situation is proven and clear. Among all the expert witnesses in Istanbul, he is the person specifically chosen to sign off on this negative process. For instance, when the subjects are AK Party figures—whom even our inspection board had identified before 2019 and against whom we persistently filed criminal complaints—the same person's negative reports suddenly turn positive. This is also proven. In other words, he is sent there as a 'made-to-order' expert, and we have determined that in cases where the crime is proven, he signs the file this time as an exonerator. What a coincidence! If we add these up, we are heading toward the figures I called '1 in 100 quadrillion.' This is the scale of the recklessness we are facing.

“WHO IS THE REAL ORGANIZED CRIME OFFENDER?”

There is a clear question to be asked here: In the İBB case, mayors, administrators, and a management organization of 100,000 people are being treated as a 'criminal organization.' Do not think that this case today has no relation to the case in the other courtroom or the more than 10 other cases I am struggling to count. For those who act with lawlessness and cruelty, adding malice to the mix, all the things they do by laying the stones are parts of the same whole. In that sense, of course, we and our colleagues—people who strive to serve our citizens—are being accused of such a crime. I ask everywhere: 'What kind of organization are we? Or are we the organization? Or is it this system that constructs every case with the same expert witnesses and the same prosecutors, and then rewards those names, that is committing an organized crime?' This is very clear.

I state it again; is the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, which we formed with 100,000 people—regardless of where they come from, without ever looking at cronyism or similar things, but by looking at the expertise, skills, and performance in the careers that the children of this nation have built throughout their lives—and which has achieved historic successes in quality service, a criminal organization? Or are the people I mentioned earlier, who lay the stones of those evils and cruelties and plan those actions, the ones committing organized crime? To me, the answer is very clear. I would like to give another very simple example: Are those who have become so blinded that they question our patriotism by slandering me, journalist Merdan Yanardağ, and Necati Özkan—a Harbiye graduate who served in the armed forces and later gained worldwide fame as a communicator—with 'espionage' the ones doing harm to this country? They are doing great harm.

“THIS IS HOW INTERFERENCE WITH A FAIR TRIAL IS DONE”

Your Honor, I will give you and our dear nation concrete examples of how interference with a fair trial is actually carried out. Only in this way will you clearly understand the situation we see or the cruelty inflicted upon us within the framework of this case.

Unfortunately, in our country, influencing a fair trial is not done by saying a word, but by designing the judiciary, removing judges from their posts, and exiling prosecutors—that is, it is done through the judiciary. I expressed this from this podium just a few months ago. I am not speaking here only for myself. I am also speaking for the conscientious, honest judges and prosecutors of this country, whom we can all truly lean on and to whom we will entrust our future. Because the rule that operates in this system is now known by everyone: If you do not deliver the verdict expected of you, or if you do not remember the ordered indictment placed before you, you will find yourself in a completely different city, in a kind of exile, with a decree published suddenly one night. I am saying this to your face. Because judges and magistrates, whom we know to be honest, honorable, and dignified—and whom we wish for each to be so—must make decisions with conscience, morality, and justice, despite everything. No matter the outcome. It is that clear.

"THIS COUNTRY IS ON A RAZOR'S EDGE"

Yes, this country is on a razor's edge, that is. It is currently on such a bridge. The ones facing the greatest test in this process are the country's judges. I want to underline this. Mr. Judge, look, I will quickly describe the cruelties inflicted upon people, which many of your colleagues are involved in. I don't know any of them; I just saw them and got to know them in front of me, just like you, that's all. I didn't even know some of them. Against my legitimate diploma, thank God... I don't have a single university friend I cannot show; I could fill a stadium with hundreds of them. But someone else cannot even show a friend to play backgammon with, yet I have them. Thank God, it is legitimate to the end.

LAWSUITS AND SUCCESSIVE JUDICIAL CHANGES

Let's start with the criminal case filed against my legitimate diploma: The judge of the Istanbul 59th Criminal Court of First Instance was sent to Kahramanmaraş. I would like to point out that the same 59th Criminal Court of First Instance is also handling the Republican People's Party's provincial building case. In the case heard at the 5th Administrative Court, the court president and a member judge were removed from their posts overnight by a decision of the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK). Overnight. In one week. I mean, how did we apply to the administrative court? They were dismissed just like that, in a matter of days. Look at the setup, would you? Neither probability calculations nor statistical calculations can account for this.

A member judge of the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court entered a dissenting opinion stating, 'Ekrem İmamoğlu should be acquitted of all charges,' in the case where I was being tried for my remarks regarding the politician who appeared to be the chief prosecutor at the time. Immediately, this member judge was sent to the Istanbul 45th Labor Court. The judge of the Istanbul Anatolian 7th Criminal Court of First Instance, where the 'fool case' was heard, was removed from office and sent to Samsun. The judge, who argued that the appointment decision was made against his will, filed a complaint with the HSK on the grounds that he was pressured and prompted to impose a sentence of more than 2 years. The HSK did not even put it on its agenda. The judge who replaced him; this person, about whom we have identified many suspicions, quickly decided to punish me and impose a political ban with a prison sentence of 2 years, 7 months, and 15 days. How brief!

HIS ACCOUNT REGARDING THE APPELLATE PROCESS

The 1st Chamber of the HSK... Look at the trail they followed regarding the 'Fool Case'. They removed the authority of the president of the 24th Criminal Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice, who was going to oversee the appellate stage. The HSK, which sent the chamber president to the presidency of the 2nd Criminal Chamber, also sent a member of the same chamber to be a member of the 1st Criminal Chamber. The new court, formed by order, upheld the conviction decision against me with the newly appointed members! Immediately! I mean, this is not secret or hidden; it is happening right before our eyes. You know, 'blatant' isn't enough; we need to find another proverb!

APPOINTMENT OF THE JUDGE WHO GRANTED ACQUITTAL IN THE BEYLİKDÜZÜ FILE

In the criminal case opened at the Büyükçekmece 10th Criminal Court of First Instance regarding a tender during my time as Mayor of Beylikdüzü, the expert witnesses provided a report in the fifth hearing on October 2, 2024, stating that the tender was in accordance with the law. The experts said: 'This tender is in accordance with the law.' At the head of that, there is this Mr. Satılmış. After that report, in 4 sessions, exactly 4 sessions, the judge overseeing the case persistently asked the prosecutor's office to submit its opinion on the merits. However, the prosecutor refused to submit an opinion by presenting an excuse in every session. And finally, when it came to the 10th session, look, the 10th session, the judge who was trying to reach a verdict on the file was removed from office and sent to Diyarbakır.

At the end of the trial, which lasted about 4 years, a judge was appointed there. He was going to decide on an acquittal just like that. He was even a judge who rejected my request to go to court; he requested SEGBİS (Audio and Visual Information System). I refused to participate via SEGBİS, and he issued an acquittal decision regarding me. The Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK), not liking the decision, sent the judge of the 10th Criminal Court of First Instance, that is, the judge who gave the acquittal, to Kahramanmaraş. So, they met there with the judge who was looking at my diploma case.

“I DON'T KNOW THE NUMBER OF JUDGES, I CAN'T KEEP UP ANYMORE”

I am also being tried there on the allegation that irregularities were committed at our party's 38th Ordinary Congress; the judge in the case heard at the Ankara 26th Criminal Court of First Instance was removed from office. And finally, the Honorable Judge, the judge overseeing this case, was also removed from office. I mean, I don't know the number of judges, I can't keep up anymore. Of course, of course, the 40th High Criminal Court is coming. I mentioned the administrative court. With the direct intervention of the HSK, in none of my cases can the natural judges of the case ever manage to reach a decision, Honorable Judge!

ALLEGATION OF “İMAMOĞLU DESIGN IN THE JUDICIARY”

We have also mentioned many times the prosecutors who have thrived by conducting investigations against me. We will touch upon them in a moment. This judicial threat was not limited only to my cases; this disease has now begun to spread to all of Turkey. Very current events are happening right now. I will touch upon that too. Let's come to the İmamoğlu design in the judiciary. In this country, influencing a fair trial is now being attempted through court panels created on a made-to-order basis. They are casting suspicion on people. They are human too. I will appear before them in a moment, I mean, I will go to the courts.

“PERSON-SPECIFIC PANEL” OUTCRY FOR THE 40TH HIGH CRIMINAL COURT

In the 40th High Criminal Court, where the İBB case is being heard, a special judicial order has been established as if to hear this case, the panel structure has been changed, and a new panel has been formed. I am not a legal expert, but our lawyers say: 'This is completely against the law.' A judicial panel for the hearing, that is, specific to a person! 3 member judges have been removed from office, and 3 new members have been brought in their place. Well, one must ask; can a court be designed for a single case?

"WHAT KIND OF COUNTRY ARE WE IN? WE ARE IN A BANANA REPUBLIC!"

Let me tell you something even more painful; some lawyers who came to visit me said months ago, 'Our indictment will be issued and sent to the 40th High Criminal Court.' The lawyers said, 'If you want, we can go to a notary and record this with a confidential statement.' I mean, what kind of country are we in? Where are we? We are in a banana republic!

Your Honor, we just recently marked the anniversary of Çanakkale; the War of Independence. I mean, this country's borders were not drawn with a ruler. This heavenly homeland is a very special land; I will not go into its history..."

News Source: 12punto