Breaking News... Özgür Özel's 'Indictment' commentary: 'Cut, copy, paste!'

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel made statements following his visit to İmamoğlu in Silivri.

Here are the highlights from Özel's statements: 

"IT IS FALLING APART AT THE SEAMS"

We are here the day after an indictment that we have been waiting for for a long time, which could not be written, which was attempted to be broken into pieces because it could not be written, and which has been falling apart at the seams since the moment it was written under pressure to prove an 'octopus' simply because we once made the President say 'octopus', as you have all seen and as I will discuss shortly. On the other hand, another indictment had been waiting for a preliminary hearing report for a long time. Yesterday, with the preliminary hearing report, dear Ahmet Özer was released. This was the only good news we have received in a very long time. We are of course happy about this, but other than that, for example, Zeydan Karalar, who is being tried for 4 years for an alleged crime from 12 years ago, is not even part of the organization in Adana, yet they did not even release him.

Even if he received the sentence they are calling for, the time he has already served would be sufficient, but they did not even release him with the preliminary hearing report. It is unacceptable that everyone in the Beşiktaş indictment has served enough time, the evidence has been collected, and while Aziz İhsan Aktaş, the founder of the criminal organization who is being tried for 774 years, is walking free, all our other friends are currently imprisoned.

Our mayors who are imprisoned from Seyhan, Ceyhan, Adana Metropolitan Municipality, Avcılar, and Beşiktaş must be tried without arrest immediately and return to their duties and their work. I would like to express this once again.

We met with many of our friends. The beginning of our conversation, especially with Mayor Ekrem and all our friends, was about the great sorrows we have experienced from last week to this week.

In particular, our martyrs in the military plane that crashed between Azerbaijan and Georgia have deeply wounded us all. Furthermore, the massacre-like work accident in Kocaeli and the work accident in Diyarbakır have extremely saddened all our friends.

They are expressing their sadness regarding this matter. We had already instructed our colleagues to hold our rally this evening in a dignified manner and in an atmosphere appropriate to this law, this mourning, and this pain.

"CUT, COPY, PASTE INDICTMENT"

We will be in a process where there will be no music, where our martyrs will be commemorated, where pain will be shared, and where the solidarity in this difficult situation will be demonstrated once again. The indictment for the March 19 Civil Coup was finally written after 237 days, and we are facing a 3,900-page indictment full of errors and contradictions, where, as you have all seen, two different people are alleged to have given the exact same statement for completely different crimes through cut, copy, and paste.

We will talk about the indictment at the rally this evening, but as far as I recall, we are facing an indictment that includes phrases like 'I remember' 969 times, 'it was rumored' 691 times, 'I heard' 546 times, 'it could be' 499 times, 'I think' 235 times, and 'I felt that way' 9 times.

"İMAMOĞLU IS ACCUSED OF WINNING THE ELECTION"

Our Mayor Ekrem is being accused of winning an election. He is being accused of intending to be a presidential candidate. They are quoting from the Republican People's Party (CHP) Congress. We will see a lot of these in the coming days. For example, they wrote that our friends from Manisa, the late Ferdi Zeyrek and our colleagues, were sure they would win because of the 'FREE FUTURE' banner they hung. They wrote, 'They did this at the congress. They did that.' Or, we are facing a situation of dark humor where they try to describe the song that entire stands sang in unison, 'We will see beautiful days, friends,' as a song used by the organization to motivate each other to win this election and then change the government in Turkey, and that these would be beautiful days for them.

"İMAMOĞLU WAS ACQUITTED IN THAT CASE LAST WEEK"

Of course, besides this, it says that Mayor Ekrem founded this organization and that its first steps were taken in Beylikdüzü in 2014, and naturally, it is so careless that it mentions an incident that took place in Beylikdüzü in 2014 and accuses him based on that.

However, as you know, last week in the case heard in Küçükçekmece—or was it Büyükçekmece? In the court at the Büyükçekmece Courthouse, Ekrem İmamoğlu was acquitted. The prosecutor had it postponed five times. It is clear they told us to wait here. They said, 'We will use this as the basis for the establishment of the organization here.'

When the prosecutor there failed to provide an opinion for 1.5 to 2 months, the judge asked, 'Then state your reason for not providing an opinion.' When he couldn't do that either, the judge made a decision and acquitted him. This incompetence led them to write this down as the fundamental crime for the establishment of the organization, but now that he has been acquitted, it has become void. Besides, the entire indictment violates a principle taught in the first year of law school: if you are being tried for a crime, they cannot open another court case for the same crime.

"THE PERSON CALLED AKIN GÜRLEK..."

We are facing a lot of absurd efforts to open a court case for the same crime. Let me state here a point I always make. This indictment has revealed exactly this, friends. There is an allegation of murder. A secret witness or a slanderer says, 'Mayor Ekrem committed murder.' There is no weapon. There are no empty shell casings. Worse yet, there is no corpse or funeral for the person allegedly killed. In other words, 'I heard it. That's what I know.' They say, 'They took bribes.' Who gave them? Where were they given? How much was given? Where is it? None of this exists. Now, to say this to the person called Akın Gürlek...

"EVERYONE IS IMPRISONED BASED ON WITNESS TESTIMONY" ÖZEL REMINDED THE CHIEF PROSECUTOR OF THOSE WORDS

On September 2nd, he gathered the members of the press and said, 'There is no one imprisoned solely on the basis of witness testimony. If there is, tell me and we will release them tomorrow.' He wrote the indictment. For example, everyone should open it and look. We were asking for an indictment from him, not to be tried, but to judge. Kadriye Kasapoğlu is there solely on witness testimony. Mehmet Bey Livan, Kadir Öztürk, Sabri Caner Kırca, Hüseyin Yurttaş, and many others are there solely on witness testimony.

If the person called Akın Gürlek—I learned this from the indictment, Mr. President. Just as he refers to us as 'the person called Özgür Özel,' I refer to the person called Akın Gürlek. You might think, 'Oh my, the Chairman wouldn't speak to anyone like that.' We say it to those who do. The individual named Akın Gürlek had said on September 2nd, 'I do not keep anyone in custody based on statements.'

"WHAT EVIDENCE DO YOU HAVE?"

There are claims, but we are asking for evidence. What evidence do you have for keeping Kadriye Kasapoğlu detained? What evidence is there against any of the names I just listed? On the contrary, there is no evidence against anyone. It has reached a point where no concrete evidence can be presented. There are places where it has been planted. There are one or two quasi-evidence items at the point where slanderers are forced to become slanderers.

They were already afraid of their own crimes, so they accused the public. If there is a crime, the slanderer committed it and is now blaming others because they were caught. I am asking the person named Akın Gürlek, who is now here with a single penny from Mayor Ekrem: You issued a press release on the morning of the first day, claiming 560 billion liras in corruption. Is there proof of even a single penny? Yesterday, you had news reported in the background claiming 140 billion liras. You said 560 once, did you drop it to 140 now? Did you offer a discount? Today we saw that 100 billion liras of this consists of external loans for the metro.

"SHOW ME 560 LIRAS OF CORRUPTION"

Since the metros aren't finished, they wrote that these people ate the money. Can such a thing happen? All metro constructions are ongoing. Money taken from there is used for this or that. They claim this money was transferred to affiliates and given to crony companies. Which tender was completed without the work being delivered? We are not being accused of the nylon invoices that Erdoğan was accused of in the past. All tenders have progress payments; they were won and executed. Someone says, 'I heard it was clear who would get the tender.' Is there proof? None. Has a single penny passed through our throats? A single penny. Has a single illicit penny passed through the throats of Ekrem İmamoğlu and our friends? Now I ask Erdoğan. Let them answer these first. After your publications about 560 billion liras of corruption, now show us 560 liras of corruption...

"IS THERE PROOF? NO"

They claimed the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) bought 1,200 mobile phones from Medya AŞ and distributed them to CHP delegates. All courts have stated that this could not be proven and that such a claim was merely the statement of one person, and that there was no proof from a deranged lunatic. Come on, find those 1,200 mobile phones from Medya AŞ. Go ahead, show that they were bought and distributed to our delegates. Is there proof? No. Where are İmamoğlu's luxury vehicles? You talked about it for 5 days. A MHP deputy came out and said 1,388 concerts were paid exorbitant prices during the pandemic. Where is it in the indictment? Why didn't I put this in the indictment? You talked about it for nights on A Haber, TGRT, and elsewhere.

ÖZEL ASKED: WHERE IS THE KİPTAŞ CLAIM?

A slanderer had claimed that 100 apartments from Kiptaş were given to some people at one-fifth of their price. Apartments from Kiptaş at one-fifth of the price to some people. Not one of them is in the indictment. Not one. At one point they said, 'Cheap apartments from Kiptaş to CHP delegates.' Name just one, say this delegate was given this apartment. Which apartment? There isn't one. They only used these lies for communication purposes. Come on then. Suitcases full of money, suitcases full of money for days. Did Chairman Özgür open a suitcase full of money there? Did a jammer come out of it? Did Chairman Özgür say there is money inside? He brought it and showed it. Do you know what is in the indictment?

"THEY ARE SHAMELESS AND FEAR NO GOD"

They claim there were jammers inside the suitcases. They don't say money. They are shameless. They fear no God. You said, 'Suitcases full of money were carried all night until morning, by bodyguards, by state police.' We said, 'That was a jammer.' When asked, 'Why are you using a jammer?' we replied, 'Our presidential candidate is using it for the same purpose that the current President uses it. The 14th President is using it for the same purpose that the 13th President used it.' Since it turned out to be a jammer, let's see if they will come out and apologize. Just last night, TRT—which doesn't show up on such critical days and runs away—claimed that Ekrem İmamoğlu sent 772 million liras to his son. It was 772,000 liras, friends. 772,000 liras. Even the deaf sultan knows that a makeshift 6-meter boat was bought with that money. TRT, shamelessly, was all over the screens last night with this. 772 million. The public says, 'Look at that money, can this be clean money?' 772 million TL. Houses are bought for 20 million, right? That's one-thirtieth of that. It's a cheap, makeshift 6-meter boat.

"ERDOĞAN HAD SAID THE MONEY WAS NOT THE STATE'S"

And he sent the money to his son's account as bold as a lion, not even from his own official account. Now, I am clearly reminding everyone of Erdoğan's words here. When money was found in the bedrooms, shoeboxes, and clothing bags of his ministers, and when he had those conversations with his own son about 'zeroing out' the money—'Did you take it?'—when it was so clearly revealed, Erdoğan had said, 'If the money is the state's money, then there is corruption.' He said the money was not the state's. There is not a single penny of state money here. Shamelessly, everyone is calling it an allegation of corruption.

Akit Newspaper has shamelessly written 'thief.' They put Mayor Ekrem's picture in 7-8 newspapers for corruption. Erdoğan used to claim that the money seized from his own circle was not state money, but money from businessmen, and therefore it was not corruption. Now, thank God, there is no money found anywhere on our side. Because there wasn't any, you know, Anadolu Agency had served stock footage. TRT had broadcast it, claiming dollars were coming out of Hakan Bahçetepe's safe, but it later turned out not a single penny was found. We don't have such money. But what happened with all those rumors, friends?

It became a nursery. It became a dormitory. It became beds for a dormitory. It became a minibar for a dormitory room. What happened, friends? It became milk aid. Now, it's not that the businessman did this in exchange for work; just as Aziz İhsan Aktaş provides an A8 long in Isparta for no reason other than his own goodwill, these businessmen built nurseries. It's not that they gave money and a nursery was built, friends. These businessmen built the nurseries. They mediated the construction of the nurseries and contributed to them. It is not the state's money; it is the businessman's money. If it passed to the nation rather than an individual, then so be it. In the AK Party era, that money would have been given to individuals in shoeboxes; in the CHP era, it became a nursery.

News Source: 12punto