Acquittal verdict for Adnan Oktar on three separate charges

Following the appellate court's reversal decision, the verdict was announced in the retrial of 19 defendants, including Adnan Oktar, regarding the charges of "forgery of official documents," "damaging and destroying official documents," "smuggling," "qualified fraud," and "money laundering." Oktar was acquitted separately on the charges of "forgery of official documents," "damaging and destroying official documents," and "smuggling."

Adnan Oktar, who is currently imprisoned for other crimes, and 14 other defendants, along with their lawyers, attended the hearing at the Anatolian 1st High Criminal Court. Some defendants joined the hearing via the Audio and Video Information System (SEGBİS).

The public prosecutor, presenting their final opinion on the merits, explained that according to the statement of defendant Özkan Mamati, all documents for 21 containers that arrived at Haydarpaşa Port on November 4, 2013, were destroyed during the exit phase from China, and that fake documents were created in their place by the TGL HKN logistics firm, which was also established by them in China.

Regarding the trials of defendants Özkan Mamati, Uğur Şahin, Çağlar Keşkek, Ayşe Osma, Alev Babuna, Aylin Atmaca, Ayşegül Hüma Babuna, Fatma Ceyda Ertüzün, Bora Yıldız, Halil Hilmi Müftüoğlu, Yeliz Aksoy, İbrahim Tuncer, Sinem Hacer Tezyapar, Mehmet Noyan Orcan, Merve Büyükbayrak, Murat Yeşiltuna, Tarkan Yavaş, Adnan Oktar, and Ulviye Didem Ürer for acting in unity of intent and action in "forgery of official documents" and "opposition to the Anti-Smuggling Law," it was stated according to the report prepared by an expert witness that the products in the declaration subject to the trial physically entered the country, were processed according to the red line criteria, and entered free circulation, and that no findings were made regarding missing or excess products or document discrepancies.

In the opinion, it was requested that the "smuggling" and "forgery of official documents" charges be separated from the file being tried.

"THERE IS AN OPEN CONSPIRACY"

Defending himself against the opinion, Oktar said, "Our friends are explaining the issues, but there is nothing complicated. There is no such thing as smuggling. There is an open conspiracy made to damage reputations. I am also a student of the Mahdi. I am 70 years old, I don't even have a traffic ticket. Suddenly, I became a person who committed 30 crimes. It is a lie, it has no basis."

Defendant Tarkan Yavaş claimed that "this case is a continuation of the main conspiracy case" and said there was no concrete event in the case.

Yavaş argued that the country needs Adnan Oktar.

Enes Akbaş, the lawyer for Adnan Oktar and some of the defendants, stated that the findings in the expert report were accurate, saying, "According to these findings, it is clear that the clients did not commit the acts alleged in the file. It has been clarified, albeit late, that the acts attributed to the clients do not constitute the crimes of smuggling and forgery of official documents. We agree with the prosecution's final opinion and request the separate acquittal of our clients."

The panel, announcing its decision, ruled for the separate acquittal of Adnan Oktar, Alev Babuna, Aylin Atmaca, Ayşegül Hüma Babuna, Bora Yıldız, Halil Hilmi Müftüoğlu, İbrahim Tuncer, Mehmet Noyan Orcan, Merve Büyükbayrak, Sinem Hacer Tezyapar, Tarkan Yavaş, Ulviye Didem Ürer, Özkan Deniz, Fatma Ceyda Ertüzün, Murat Yeşiltuna, and Yeliz Aksoy on the charges of "forgery of official documents," "damaging and destroying official documents," and "smuggling."

The panel decided to acquit defendant Ayşe Osma of the charge of "misconduct in office," and decided to acquit defendant Çağlar Keşkek of the charges of "smuggling" and "aiding in forgery of official documents," and Uğur Şahin of the charge of "smuggling."

The panel ruled that the "qualified fraud" and "money laundering" charges against the defendants should be separated from this file, taking into account that, except for forgery crimes committed in conjunction with smuggling crimes as per the 2nd paragraph of Article 17 of the Anti-Smuggling Law, cases filed for smuggling cannot be heard together with cases filed for other crimes.

BACKGROUND OF THE CASE

The case against the Adnan Oktar armed criminal organization, involving 215 defendants, 72 of whom were in custody, was concluded by the Istanbul High Criminal Court on November 16, 2022.

The court panel sentenced defendant Adnan Oktar, who was considered the leader of the organization, to a total of 891 years in prison for the crimes of "managing an organization," "sexual abuse," "preventing the right to education," "torture," "deprivation of liberty," and "recording personal data." The panel held Oktar responsible for the crimes of other defendants as well, due to his position as a leader, and sentenced him to a total of 8,658 years in prison, including the sentences of the other defendants.

The panel also sentenced defendants Alev Babuna, Aylin Atmaca, Ayşegül Hüma Babuna, Bora Yıldız, Ulviye Didem Ürer, Yeliz Sucu, Merve Büyükbayrak, Sinem Hacer Tezyapar, Tarkan Yavaş, Halil Hilmi Müftüoğlu, İbrahim Tuncer, Mehmet Noyan Orcan, and Fatma Ceyda Ertüzün, who were tried on charges of "managing an organization," to 8,658 years in prison each for similar crimes.

In the case, the court sentenced 106 defendants to 4 years and 6 months in prison each for "membership in an organization," and 8 defendants to 3 years in prison each for "aiding an organization without being a member."

The panel applied effective remorse provisions for 16 defendants, giving them various prison sentences, while 67 defendants received prison sentences of varying lengths for similar crimes.

The panel also sentenced defendant Mert Sucu to 152 years and 5 months in prison for "membership in an organization," "sexual abuse," "sexual assault," "resisting to prevent the performance of duty," and "attempted murder" against two police officers, and separated the files of 3 defendants.

APPELLATE COURT DECISION

The Istanbul Regional Court of Justice (Appellate Court), which reviewed the local court's decision, had issued a reversal decision regarding some defendants on the charges of "forgery of official documents," "damaging and destroying official documents," "smuggling," "qualified fraud," and "money laundering."

The file of the defendants separated from the main case file was sent to the Anatolian 1st High Criminal Court following the appellate court's decision of lack of jurisdiction.

On the other hand, the Appellate Court had issued an approval decision for some defendants and sent the case file to the Court of Cassation.

COURT OF CASSATION DECISION

The 1st Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation completed its review on July 10, 2024, regarding 91 defendants who appealed the court's decision within the scope of the case.

The Chamber upheld the total 8,463-year and 4-month prison sentence given to Adnan Oktar for "establishing and managing a criminal organization," "sexual abuse," "sexual assault," "preventing the right to education," and "deprivation of liberty," while reversing the prison sentence given for "qualified sexual abuse of a child" on the grounds of "absence of case."

The prison sentences given to defendants Ayşegül Hüma Babuna, Bora Yıldız, Halil Hilmi Müftüoğlu, İbrahim Tuncer, Mehmet Noyan Orcan, Tarkan Yavaş, Alev Babuna, Ulviye Didem Ürer, Merve Büyükbayrak, Yeliz Aksoy, Sinem Hacer Tezyapar, and Aylin Atmaca, who were stated to be organization leaders, for "establishing and managing an organization for the purpose of committing crimes" were also upheld. The Chamber reversed the prison sentences given for the crimes committed by Oktar, based on the provision of the Turkish Penal Code that "Organization leaders are also punished as perpetrators for all crimes committed within the framework of the organization's activities," due to "insufficient reasoning."

The prison sentences ranging from 18 years and 9 months to 351 years and 9 months given to 78 defendants accepted as organization members for the crimes of "sexual assault," "aiding in qualified sexual assault," and "deprivation of liberty" were also upheld by the chamber.

The chamber also upheld the decision regarding the separate confiscation of movable and immovable property, rights, and receivables accepted as being used in and obtained from crimes proven within the scope of the organization's activities, in accordance with the relevant articles of the TPC.