New development in the 'city consensus' case where Ahmet Özer is being tried!

Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer, who was detained and arrested during a dawn raid on October 30, 2024, as part of the first operation targeting CHP-run municipalities, appeared in court for the third time under the "City Consensus" file, facing up to 15 years in prison on charges of "being a member of an armed terrorist organization." The trial of Özer, for whom a trustee has been appointed, was held by the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court at the No. 2 courtroom located within the Marmara Closed Prison complex in Silivri, where he is being held.

In the previous hearing, a release decision had been issued for Özer, with judicial control measures including a travel ban and a prohibition on leaving the province. However, he could not be released from prison because he remains detained in another case opened following the statements of businessperson Aziz İhsan Aktaş, who benefited from the effective remorse law.

Today's hearing was attended by CHP Diyarbakır Deputy Sezgin Tanrıkulu, Rize Deputy Tahsin Ocaklı, Istanbul Provincial Chair Özgür Çelik, and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Mayor Nuri Aslan. Ahmet Özer was brought into the courtroom by gendarmerie under the applause of the audience. It was noted that Özer smiled and greeted the audience as he entered the room and that he had grown a mustache.

In the prosecutor's opinion on the merits, it was requested that Özer be sentenced to between 7.5 and 15 years in prison for the crime of "being a member of an armed terrorist organization." Ahmet Özer and his lawyers, Seraf Özer and Hüseyin Ersöz, requested time to prepare a defense against the opinion. The court panel ruled to lift the obligation on Özer not to leave the province while maintaining the travel ban. It was decided that the next hearing would be held on January 23, 2026, at 10:00 AM.

"WE WILL PREPARE A DETAILED AND COMPREHENSIVE DEFENSE"

After the hearing, lawyers Özer and Ersöz made statements to journalists. Speaking about the opinion, Ersöz said:

"We were faced with an opinion that we cannot legally characterize, with an approach that in no way aligns with the contents of the file and ignores all the evidence in the file in favor of the defendant. We shared our criticisms regarding this issue with the court panel. Another request we had from the court panel was regarding both the setting of the hearing date and the lifting of the judicial controls that were imposed along with the previous release decision. The court lifted the decision regarding the prohibition on leaving Istanbul, which was one of these judicial control measures, for Mr. Ahmet Özer. It ruled for the continuation of the international travel ban. Now, at the hearing to be held in January, we will present a defense against the prosecution's demand for our client to be punished for membership in an organization. This will be a detailed and comprehensive defense. Because the correspondence conducted by the court, the witness statements that have entered the file, and the correspondence conducted by the court with the police department and the prosecutor's offices all point to the formation of a conviction that our client did not fundamentally commit the alleged crime. We believe that the court's decision to release our client and its decision to lift one of the judicial control measures in this session are also linked to the evidence in favor of the defendant in this file. In this context, we will present our detailed defenses regarding our client Ahmet Özer at the hearing in January and will request an acquittal."

"FACING A SENTENCE CANNOT BE LEGAL UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES"

Seraf Özer also pointed out that they have been fighting a legal battle for over a year and said:

"After Ahmet Özer received a release decision on July 14, an indictment was also written in the second file, which was created entirely for backup purposes and caused him not to regain his freedom. We are waiting for this indictment to be approved and for the preliminary examination to be prepared. Our request here is also for trial without arrest. Therefore, we submitted a petition for release during the preliminary examination. Before coming here, I really prepared myself psychologically. Because we were not expecting the opinion the prosecutor would give to be very encouraging or in accordance with the law anyway. As I was leaving the hearing, I thought about this. Ultimately, as is now known to the entire public, a very important development has taken place in our country since October 30, and we are going through a peace process. The opinion given today is completely contrary to the spirit of the peace process. In other words, it is impossible for us to face a sentence in a file that is being attempted to be constructed by arresting Ahmet Özer's tenant, the person selling tomato paste, the person who designed the cover, and based on the purchase of a 140 TL book or a vacuum cleaner."

"IF I AM A BIT RESERVED IN MY WORDS, IT IS BECAUSE OF MY BELIEF IN PEACE"

"Although my dear father, my valued client Professor Doctor Ahmet Özer, has stated from the beginning that he supports the peace process without any ifs or buts, I would like to underline today that this opinion given is completely contrary to the spirit of the peace process. We know that this process is progressing competently. We trust in its sincerity, and if I am a bit reserved in my words today, it is because of my belief in peace and the respect I have for the peace process. Ultimately, Mr. (Devlet) Bahçeli is also conducting and advancing this process in a very sincere and determined manner. Therefore, believing in the sincerity of this process, I have full faith that we will receive an acquittal decision from this file on January 23. In this process, I am both acting as a lawyer and, as a relative of a detainee, I would like to state that I am also devastated every time I see my father in that defendant's chair. Someone slanders you. They say, 'Give up the municipality, go inside. We'll look at what the crime is later.' Professor Doctor Ahmet Özer, who has served as vice-rector, department chair, and dean in this country until the age of 65; who founded the GAP Union of Municipalities, served as a board member and secretary-general for 7 years, worked in the State Planning Organization, represented Turkey in the international arena at the United Nations Habitat II Summit, and has provided many services in this country to date, and has served in very high-level positions in all public institutions and organizations of the state, has he only encountered an accusation like organization membership when he turned 65 and became the Mayor of Esenyurt?"

"IT IS A FILE THAT HAS BEEN CONVICTED IN THE CONSCIENCE OF THE PUBLIC"

"Therefore, this is a file that has already been convicted in the conscience of the public. Ultimately, our belief that justice will be served is also full. I want you to know that I am truly saddened by this. Someone slanders you, and you have to defend that it is a slander, and I come to the prison every day. I visit my father. As the entire Özer family, we are being subjected to persecution. Every time my father is in that defendant's chair, we try to explain with legal and technical grounds that the slander thrown at him is a slander. I have full faith that we will receive an acquittal decision from this file, but unfortunately, there is no return for these days stolen from our lives in this legal struggle we have been waging for over a year. Therefore, I would like to state that I am very sad in this sense. Still, as people whose compass is the law, we will never lose our faith in the law. I have full faith that the honorable panel will give an acquittal decision on January 23, in accordance with the spirit of the peace process."

News Source: 12punto