Dilan Polat indictment causes crisis at the courthouse

The investigation into 28 suspects, including Dilan and Engin Polat, who were arrested on charges of money laundering, has been completed. The prepared indictment seeks a total prison sentence of 20 to 40 years for the couple, Dilan and Engin Polat, for 3 separate crimes. For the other 26 suspects, various prison sentences were requested for different offenses.

THE INDICTMENT HAD BEEN REJECTED

Evaluating the indictment prepared by the Istanbul Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor's Office following the investigation, the Anatolian 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance returned the file, stating that the case should be heard by a high criminal court. The Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor's Office appealed the court's rejection decision. The Anatolian 3rd High Criminal Court ruled that the Criminal Court of First Instance should handle the Dilan Polat file.

THE COURT'S GROUNDS FOR REJECTION

According to Kanal D Haber, it has emerged that the Dilan Polat indictment caused a crisis between the prosecutor and the court. According to the report, the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance explained why it returned the file to the investigation prosecutor with a 4-point justification.

In the first point, the court stated that there were material errors in the referral grounds in the indictment and emphasized that since the requested prison sentences in the indictment exceed 10 years, the case falls under the jurisdiction of the high criminal court.

In the second point, it was highlighted that there are charges of establishing an organization and money laundering. However, the Criminal Court of First Instance emphasized that the money was laundered through illegal betting and stated that this should be heard in specialized courts that handle crimes regulated by Law No. 7258.

In the third point, it stated that the actions described in the indictment were not linked to evidence. Providing an example, the court said, "The amount of assets derived from the crime has not been shown." It pointed out that evidence confirming that the suspects moved money abroad via crypto wallets was included.

In the fourth point, the indictment included the testimony of witness Erkan Şahin, who stated that he copied Engin Polat's mobile phone and stored it on an external drive kept in his home. The court stated that the external drive mentioned in this testimony was not found and its contents were not investigated.

PROSECUTOR FOUND TO BE IN THE RIGHT

The court concluded its one-and-a-half-page rejection justification by emphasizing that sufficient evidence had not been collected to open a public case and returned the indictment, but the prosecutor did not back down. The prosecutor appealed the court's rejection decision, emphasizing that the evidence was sufficient and that the connection between the suspects and the events had been established.

HEARING ON SEPTEMBER 4

The High Criminal Court evaluated this appeal and found the prosecutor to be in the right. The court to which the indictment was returned has set the hearing date for September 4, 2024.