Indictment accepted for 'secret witness' case linked to Ayhan Bora Kaplan criminal organization

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office had prepared an indictment against former Ankara Deputy Police Chief Murat Çelik, former Organized Crime Branch Manager Kerem Gökay Öner, former Branch Deputy Manager Şevket Demircan, former Branch Commissioners Ufuk Gültekin, Gökhan Karaca, and Metehan İlkyaz, as well as Nurullah Özgür Kopuk, Ramazan Kubat, Adem Kaçan, Mustafa Çotuk, and Erdoğan Sertçelik, and submitted it to the Ankara 13th Criminal Court of First Instance.

The court decided to accept the indictment against the 11 defendants and set the date for the first hearing as July 18.

- FROM THE INDICTMENT

The indictment stated that an ex officio investigation was launched after the secret witness of the Ayhan Bora Kaplan criminal organization case, Serdar Sertçelik, made various allegations regarding Öner, Çelik, Demircan, and Gültekin in audio recordings shared from his social media account.

The indictment noted that Çelik, Öner, Demircan, İlkyaz, Karaca, and Gültekin had served as judicial law enforcement in the investigation into the Ayhan Bora Kaplan criminal organization, and therefore knew one of the file's suspects, Serdar Sertçelik.

The indictment recorded that these defendants, "adopted a protective attitude throughout the entire investigation process, even before a secret witness decision was taken regarding him during the Ayhan Bora Kaplan criminal organization investigation, despite having no duty or authority to do so."

The indictment explained that Sertçelik, thinking he would be arrested following the decision to detain him for the second time on November 24, 2023, within the scope of the investigation, "planned to go abroad in order to 'render the investigation and prosecution against him inconclusive,' and it was determined that the police officer defendants 'directed the relevant physician to state that Serdar Sertçelik could not be detained due to the injury he sustained from a firearm on November 20, 2023, and obtained an improper medical report.'"

The indictment stated that thanks to the report, the detention order for Sertçelik was not executed, and after the instruction to have him present without being detained on November 27, 2023, he violated the "judicial control decision of not leaving his residence" and fled.

The indictment, which stated that "Sertçelik declared directly to the suspects Ufuk Gültekin and Gökhan Karaca that he would go abroad," recorded that "Therefore, this situation was also known by the suspects who were his direct superiors, Şevket Demircan, Kerem Gökay Öner, and Murat Çelik, as well as the suspect Metehan İlkyaz, who held the rank of commissioner and was responsible for checking whether Serdar Sertçelik was at his residence within the scope of the Ayhan Bora Kaplan criminal organization investigation while serving in the same office."

The indictment, which stated that according to the correspondence between defendants Öner and Demircan detected on November 29, 2023, they messaged each other that Sertçelik had left Ankara and gone to Istanbul, included the following statements:

"It was understood that they made a joint decision in this direction to mislead judicial authorities by keeping a report stating that Serdar Sertçelik could not be found, and to protect and favor Serdar Sertçelik; that after Sertçelik went abroad through illegal means on December 4, 2023, according to law enforcement findings, the suspects Murat Çelik, Kerem Gökay Öner, Şevket Demircan, Metehan İlkyaz, Gökhan Karaca, and Ufuk Gültekin continued to contact Serdar Sertçelik improperly, despite having no duty or authority to do so, and spoke with him by phone multiple times and recorded it."

'THEY DIRECTED HIM ON HOW TO TESTIFY'

The indictment reported that the defendants directed Sertçelik on how he should testify in the Ayhan Bora Kaplan criminal organization case, which continues to be heard at the Ankara 32nd High Criminal Court.

The indictment included the finding that, "According to the transcripts of the meeting contents, which show that Serdar Sertçelik also accepted these directions given to him, it was understood that the suspects Murat Çelik, Kerem Gökay Öner, Şevket Demircan, Metehan İlkyaz, Gökhan Karaca, and Ufuk Gültekin, who served as judicial law enforcement in the same unit and within the scope of the same investigation, acted in participation with the suspect Nurullah Özgür Kopuk."

'THEY PROVIDED INVESTIGATION INFORMATION THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN KEPT SECRET'

The indictment stated that the defendants endangered the integrity of the investigation by providing information about judicial instructions and decisions that should have been kept secret within the scope of the investigation.

The indictment, which explained that upon the instruction of Şevket Demircan and with the knowledge of Kerem Gökay Öner and Murat Çelik, a voice recording device from the technical bureau of the Ankara Provincial Police Department's Organized Crime Branch was illegally taken out and used for monitoring despite there being no "protective measure decision," included the finding that, "It was determined that they also shared certain instructions and decisions given regarding other judicial events they were privy to due to their duties with a person whose clear identity information could not be determined."

The indictment stated that these defendants committed the crimes of "judicial misconduct," "disclosure of secrets related to duty," "attempt to influence a witness," and "aiding and abetting a criminal."

It was recorded that the defendants Adem Kaçan, Mustafa Çotuk, Ramazan Kubat, and Erdoğan Sertçelik helped Serdar Sertçelik escape in participation, despite knowing that there was a judicial control decision for him not to leave his residence.

REQUESTED SENTENCES

In the indictment prepared by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, it is requested that Öner be sentenced to 2 to 11 years in prison for the crimes of "judicial misconduct," "disclosure of secrets related to duty," and "aiding and abetting a criminal," and that the other police officer defendants Çelik, Demircan, Gültekin, İlkyaz, and Karaca be sentenced to 4 to 15 years in prison for the crime of "attempt to influence a witness" in addition to the same crimes.

In the indictment, where a prison sentence of 2 to 4 years is requested for the other defendant, Kopuk, for the crime of "attempt to influence a witness," it is requested that Kaçan, Çotuk, Kubat, and Serdar Sertçelik's father, Erdoğan Sertçelik, be sentenced to 6 months to 5 years in prison for the crime of "aiding and abetting a criminal."

The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office had previously decided to separate the investigation conducted for the crime of "agreement to commit a crime," regulated in Article 316 of the Turkish Penal Code under the heading "Crimes Against the Constitutional Order and the Functioning of This Order," and to conduct it under a different investigation number.

The investigation into Serdar Sertçelik, who is a defendant in the Ayhan Bora Kaplan criminal organization case and was caught in Hungary while being sought with a red notice, was also separated because his defense could not be taken.