3 defendants who threatened Atlas Çağlayan's family released

Eight defendants, five of whom were in custody, appeared in court for the first time for sending threatening messages to the family of 17-year-old Atlas Çağlayan, who lost his life after being stabbed in a fight in Güngören, and for opening a social media account in the victim's name to post about the incident. Two defendants who were not in custody and the lawyers for the parties were present at the hearing held at the Bakırköy 19th Criminal Court of First Instance. While the 5 detained defendants connected to the hearing via the Audio and Video Information System (SEGBİS), defendant Ala Faysal, who is not in custody, and the complainants did not attend the hearing.

"THIS LINE WAS NOT IN MY USE ON THE DATE OF THE CRIME"

Detained defendant Abdulsamet Erdoğan, who is alleged to have posted messages on social media to Atlas Çağlayan's mother such as, "We killed your son Atlas, you are next, we will bury you next to your son. We will cut off your head, pour diesel on it and burn it, no one will find your body, no one will know how you died," connected to the hearing via SEGBİS. In his defense, defendant Abdulsamet Erdoğan stated, "I reside in Bursa. I make my living from the content I produce on the internet. I reached half a million subscribers on my channel with my own means. I do not know the other defendants being tried in the case, and I offer my condolences to the grieving family. I did not send messages to anyone via social media. A crime was committed by copying the license plate belonging to me onto another vehicle. I am being tried for this reason. The digital materials seized during the search of my home were examined. No criminal elements were found in these examinations. I request my acquittal and release."

Detained defendant Ferhat Karadağ, in his defense via SEGBİS, said, "I have nothing to do with the incident. I am in prison because of a line I took out 13 years ago. This line was not in my use on the date of the crime. We have forwarded the name of the person who actually used this line to the prosecutor's office. It has been determined that no criminal element was formed in the cyber examination conducted on my phone," he said.

"WHILE PLAYING A GAME, THE INCIDENT ATLAS EXPERIENCED WAS BEING DISCUSSED..."

Defendant Ömer Can Derin, who was present in the courtroom and not in custody, said in his defense, "I have no intention of targeting or directing anyone. I made the post that is the subject of the indictment under the influence of the incident that occurred, but I have no intention of targeting anyone. I made this post because the family's situation affected me. I request my acquittal."

Detained defendant Ömercan Özdoğan, who connected via SEGBİS, stated that he was talking about the incident in question with someone else over a game, saying, "We talked about such child deaths with that person, we chatted so that it wouldn't happen more. I am very sorry, I could not think that what I was going to do could be a crime. I definitely did not make the posts. I am a student, I miss my family very much. I do not know the other people in the file. While playing a game, I wanted to create awareness about the incident Atlas experienced. I talked to a person I met in the game, whose face I never saw and who said his name was Barış. Afterwards, I opened an Instagram account named 'Justice for Atlas'. I reached the information of the people who killed Atlas, and I created images using artificial intelligence using their photos and information. For this reason, I handed over the account information to the person I knew as Barış. When I woke up in the morning, the account had been closed, I had no knowledge of these posts," he said.

"Y.T. SAID 'ÖMER FARUK SENT ME A LINK' TO ESCAPE THE CRIME"

Detained defendant Ömer Faruk Ay, who connected to the hearing via SEGBİS, claimed that he was unaware of the threatening messages and that he did not use the line, stating, "This line belongs to Sevgi Timur. Y.T. said, 'Ömer Faruk sent me a link' to escape the crime, but I did not send a link, and no evidence was found regarding this. I did not send threatening messages to anyone, I was slandered. Y.T. is my cousin, when we went to Giresun to work in July 2025, she told me, 'I will open groups on Telegram.' I said, 'Don't open them.' Upon this, Y.T. cursed at me and said she would open them," he said.

Detained defendant Sevgi Timur, who made a defense, stated that she did not accept the accusations against her and said, "I have nothing to do with the incidents. I am preparing for the university exam, and the examination of my phone and account came out clean. I do not use Telegram, I do not accept any accusations. I only know that my sister Y.T. talked to Ömer Faruk," she said.

RELEASE OF 2 DEFENDANTS REQUESTED

The Public Prosecutor, whose opinion was asked, requested the release of detained defendants Abdülsamet Erdoğan and Sevgi Timur with judicial control measures. The prosecution requested the continuation of the detention of the other defendants.

3 DEFENDANTS RELEASED

After the defenses were taken, the court announced its interim decision and ordered the release of detained defendants Abdulsamet Erdoğan, Sevgi Timur, and Ferhat Karadağ with judicial control measures, ruled for the continuation of the detention of defendants Ömercan Özdoğan and Ömer Faruk Ay, and adjourned the hearing for the completion of missing issues.