Details of the new indictment in the 'newborn gang' investigation revealed: Suspects' testimonies draw attention

The indictment, prepared by the Organized Crimes and Terror Crimes Investigation Bureau of the Büyükçekmece Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, states that an investigation has been launched into certain suspects who were mentioned in the medical expert opinion, the Ministry of Health Inspection Board report, testimonies, and wiretaps in the main case of the "newborn gang" currently being tried at the Bakırköy 22nd High Criminal Court, but who were not included in the public lawsuit filed.

The indictment explains that 17 suspects were identified in this direction, and that an ex officio investigation was launched into suspect Mustafa Kemal Zengin to determine whether he acted together with the criminal organization within the scope of this file, and he was subsequently included in the case.

THREAT INVESTIGATION AGAINST THE PROSECUTOR CONTINUES

The prepared indictment states that suspect Mustafa Kemal Zengin met with public prosecutor Yavuz Engin in his office to secure the release of Tuğçe Toptemel, a defendant in the main case, and made statements that reached the level of threats.

According to HTS records, it was stated that Zengin spoke 138 times with Ahmet Atilla Yılmaz, the responsible manager of Beylikdüzü Medilife Hospital and one of the defendants in the main case; 1320 times with suspect lawyer Aylin Arslantatar, whom he accompanied to the prosecutor's office; and 110 times with Yavuz Çelik, the stepfather of the organization member Toptemel, whose release was sought.

The indictment provided information that suspect Zengin was in contact with Yavuz Çelik and Ahmet Atilla Yılmaz even before the act of threatening the prosecutor of the case.

The indictment includes the fact that suspect Zengin attempted to secure the release of a defendant arrested within the scope of the criminal organization investigation by threatening the prosecutor of the case, while fully aware of the organization's existence.

The indictment states that suspect Zengin's action in this context is evaluated as "aiding the organization," and that the investigation regarding the act of threat is still ongoing.

The indictment states that it was concluded that the suspect doctor Şeyhmus Çelik, who is detained in the main case, had fault arising from his contractual responsibility due to his failure to perform the necessary examinations and evaluations regarding the admission of the deceased baby Opara to the hospital, and that Çelik would be held responsible for the crime of "intentional killing by omission."

The indictment explains that, according to the Ministry of Health Inspector's Report, it was determined that suspect doctor Zeki Ötünç was negligent in the death of a baby named Kerem Muhammet Tokluoğlu at Avcılar Hospital because he did not apply appropriate resuscitation treatment to the patient, was insufficient in adjusting the support settings of the ventilator, and did not provide surfactant treatment to the patient.

The indictment states that it was determined that suspect doctor Hilda Keykubad, who worked at Esenler Güney Hospital, was negligent for not undertaking the clinical follow-up, treatment, and resuscitation of the deceased baby Kaya. It was noted that as a result of the inspection conducted by the Provincial Health Directorate officials, it was determined that there was no physician signature on the orders applied since baby Kaya's admission, daily patient epicrises were not performed by the physician, epicrisis reports were not created by the physician, and only nurse observation notes were present.

SUSPECT ADDED THE LUNG X-RAY OF ANOTHER INTUBATED BABY

The indictment states that suspect nurse Aslı Alemdağ, who worked at Esenyurt Reyap Hospital, prepared a false epicrisis, uploaded the lung X-ray of an intubated baby named Kuşlu to the file of the deceased baby Yünaçtı, and that the suspect was bound by the instructions given to her within the organization's hierarchy.

The indictment explains that suspect Remzi Karaca, who coordinated patient referrals at Çorlu Reyap Hospital, received information about babies in need of referral from 112 and accepted them if there was space in the hospital. It was stated that Karaca reported patients requiring sub-specialty or surgical intervention to the hospitals he knew, and referred babies to the hospitals told to him by calling Gıyasettin Mert Özdemir and Fırat Sarı.

The indictment explains that suspect Senanur Ünlü, who worked as a medical secretary at TRG Hospitalist Hospital, prepared a false epicrisis, was involved in uploading the epicrisis to the system, and that there were account movements and HTS records between her and defendant Fırat Sarı.

It was stated that suspect Gözde Polat, who worked as a secretary at the private Avcılar Hospital, also prepared a false epicrisis and worked in connection with Hasan Basri Gök.

The indictment recorded that suspect nurse Seher Çuhadar was responsible for the death of the deceased baby Karakoç, that suspect Nigar Kubilay, the head nurse of Bağcılar Medilife Hospital, prepared a false epicrisis, and that suspect medical secretary Müberra Palabıyık, who worked at Çorlu Reyap Hospital, was involved in making the cause of death of the deceased baby Halime Alkari compliant with procedure in the epicrisis reports according to the Ministry of Health Inspector's Report.

The indictment explains that suspect Bener Mahmut Mansuroğlu, the responsible manager and chief physician of Silivri Kolan Hospital, rented out the business within the hospital in violation of health legislation through the Medisense company owned by defendant Fırat Sarı, and that Mansuroğlu had legal responsibility due to his managerial status, was responsible for the crime of "qualified fraud," and performed irregular transactions.

The indictment states that suspect Dursun Eryılmaz is detained in the main case currently being tried at the Bakırköy 22nd High Criminal Court and is held responsible for the death of the deceased baby Kadan, which is not the subject of the trial regarding him.

The indictment includes the fact that suspects chief physician İbrahim Oktay and head nurse Hilal Vatansever had HTS records with defendant Sarı.

The indictment states that there is a finding that suspect Meryem Küçükoğlu wanted the hospital's curosurf drugs to be sold to her, and that the suspect was in the same position as the detained defendant Hüseyin Gündüz in the main case regarding the sale of drugs.

The indictment includes the fact that it was determined that suspect Serenay Şenkalaycı, who has an arrest warrant issued against her in the main case, was also negligent in the death of the deceased baby Tokluoğlu while she was working at Avcılar Hospital.

The indictment explains that it was concluded that suspect doctor Songül Kaloğlu, who worked at Esenler Güney Hospital, was responsible for the baby's death within the scope of organizational activity, considering that her signature and stamp were on the documents of the deceased baby Kaya and that she was connected to defendant Fırat Sarı.

TESTIMONIES OF THE SUSPECTS

Suspect Mustafa Kemal Zengin, whose testimony was included in the indictment, defended himself by saying that his tone was misunderstood and stated that he apologized to the Turkish nation and the state.

Claiming that he did not go to the prosecutor to threaten him, but only shared his own predictions, Zengin noted the following in his testimony:

"I introduce myself to everyone as a consultant. I correct those who call me 'undersecretary' by saying 'consultant.' However, they continue to call me undersecretary. There is nothing I can do about this. Baki and Yavuz have no knowledge of this matter. Since I have known them for 20 years, I added to it and said it myself. Aylin did not take the file because she is a friend of the public prosecutor. I spoke this way so that Aylin would not be upset. There is no such plan. I absolutely do not accept Muhammed's testimony. I do not know that person. I have never even used Telegram. I only know as much about the prosecutor as Yavuz Çelik told me. The other things I said are entirely due to my loose talk. The incident reached this point because of my slight exaggeration."

Suspect Dursun Eryılmaz also stated in his testimony that he was being tried regarding baby Kadan, that he performed the first intervention, and that he intubated the baby, whose condition was very bad, and took a lung X-ray.

Defending that he had no negligence, Eryılmaz claimed that the obstetrician asked for tests and ultrasound from the mother, but the mother did not have them done.

Suspect Hilda Keykubad, on the other hand, argued in her testimony that Ali Dirik, the detained defendant of the main case who is the chief physician of the Private Esenler Güney Hospital, made an insurance entry into the hospital system without her knowledge and that she learned about these after the events were revealed.

Claiming that baby Kaya's condition was bad and that it was impossible for her to know what treatments were applied to the baby in the following 3 days because she was not at the hospital, Keykubad claimed that her name appeared in expert and witness reports due to the insurance entry even though she was not working at the hospital on that date.

Keykubad stated that her entry into the hospital's duty roster was on a date after baby Kaya's death, and that she did not agree with the parts where her name and the name of her husband, Rıza Keykubad, who is a detained defendant in the main case, were mentioned, arguing that the wiretaps had nothing to do with her.

The indictment also requested that this file be merged with the main case of the "newborn gang," which is currently being tried at the Bakırköy 22nd High Criminal Court.

REQUESTED SENTENCES

In the indictment, prison sentences ranging from 10 to 15 years were requested for suspects Hilda Keykubad, Dursun Eryılmaz, Seher Çuhadar, and Şeyhmus Çelik for the crime of "intentional killing by omission."

For suspect Mustafa Kemal Zengin, a prison sentence of 2 to 4 years was requested for the crime of "aiding an organization established for the purpose of committing a crime."

In the indictment, prison sentences in varying proportions were requested for the other 13 suspects for different crimes.

OPERATION

Within the scope of the investigation conducted by the Büyükçekmece Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, 16 suspects acting with doctor Fırat Sarı, who is alleged to be the leader of the organized crime group that allegedly referred emergency infant patients to the neonatal units of private hospitals they had pre-arranged, causing their deaths and generating illicit profit, had been identified.

Teams from the Istanbul Anti-Smuggling Crimes Branch Directorate captured 14 suspects, including 5 doctors, 3 nurses, 5 healthcare workers, and 1 civilian, in an operation they organized on December 4.

Later, the number of suspects in this file increased to 18.