Breaking News: Release decision for imprisoned Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer! He will not be able to leave prison...

The trial of CHP's Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer, who was arrested on charges of being a "PKK/KCK member" and replaced by a government-appointed trustee, is being held by the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court in the courtroom at Silivri Prison.

Witness testimonies are being heard in the trial of Özer, who faces a prison sentence of 7 years and 6 months to 15 years.

CHP Group Deputy Chairman Gökhan Günaydın, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Mayor Nuri Aslan, CHP İstanbul Provincial Chairman Özgür Çelik, Dilek Kaya İmamoğlu, and several party members also followed the hearing.

Erkan Çakır, the former head of the CHP's Muş Youth Branch who also testified in the "irregularities in the CHP congress" case, testified against Özer.

According to journalist Eylül Deniz, Çakır said the following:

"I am a pro-state person, a person who loves the six arrows of the CHP. I am a Kurdish citizen. A defamation lawsuit was filed against me due to a comment I made on my social media about Mr. Ahmet Özer. I said Mr. Ahmet Özer is a PKK supporter, and because of this, a lawsuit was filed against me; I am being tried in two places because of this.

Everyone knows why Ahmet Özer is currently in custody. I am being tried because I voiced this 9 months ago. I do not want anyone who supports a terrorist organization in my own party.

The speeches made by Mr. Ahmet Özer are clear; it is clear that he made speeches calling for autonomy. I am a Kurd, but Turkishness is the overarching identity; how happy is the one who says I am a Turk."

"AHMET ÖZER SAID 'PEKEKE,' WE SAY 'PEKAKA'"

Upon the judge's question, "What is your knowledge regarding Ahmet Özer's membership? Are your statements based on information?", Çakır said:

"Yes, we people in the Eastern Anatolia Region, the people in Van, were constantly voicing these. After Ahmet Özer was elected mayor, there was an impact on people because he made speeches calling for autonomy. I cannot stomach Ahmet Özer being made a candidate for my party. Ahmet Özer said 'Pekeke,' we say 'Pekaka.' Even looking at this, it is clear that Ahmet Özer is a member of the organization. I have given my word here on my honor and dignity; believe me, I do not lie."

"A DERANGED LIAR WHO ATTACKS EVERYONE BECAUSE HE WAS EXPELLED FROM THE CHP!"

In his defense, Ahmet Özer said the following regarding the witness Erkan Çakır, who testified against him:

"This man is a liar known to the public as deranged. He just told one of his most obvious lies. Supposedly, I asked him for 70 thousand liras for a compromise; it is a lie. He made a statement that I am a member of an organization; as a public official, I filed a lawsuit against him. We currently have a lawsuit between us; there is hostility between us.

Not just with me, Erkan Çakır is a man who insults many municipalities and certain opinion leaders via tweets whenever he feels like it. There is no evidence for what he is saying now. That I wandered around in Van, that I spoke about autonomy; where is the proof of this? If it is not like this, can a person be shown as guilty whenever someone who gets up and takes offense tweets about them? Can there be such a social order? I think it is against the law for a person about whom I have filed a complaint to be heard as a witness against me in my own country.

He is someone who attacks everyone he comes across because the CHP expelled him. There is no proof of what he says, no evidence; these are baseless allegations. If he slanders everyone who comes to his mind and if society and the courts keep us busy with these, how can we build social peace?"

One of Ahmet Özer's lawyers, Hüseyin Ersöz, also took the floor regarding the statements of the witness named Erkan Çakır.

Lawyer Hüseyin Ersöz said the following:

"The person named Erkan Çakır gave a defense regarding the tweet he posted about Ahmet Özer, saying, 'Ahmet Özer referred to the armed terrorist organization Pekaka as Pekeke in one of his speeches. I tweeted about him because of this speech. I did not share misleading information to the public.'

He says he is a public opinion researcher, but he is not a public opinion researcher or anything; he was asked in court and said he has no monthly income.

Before connecting to you via SEGBİS, he connected to another court as a defendant and gave his defense; he has a finalized conviction for defamation. When you put all of these together, this is a person who does not even make truthful statements about his own profession, and who commits new crimes when he tries to make statements while trying to escape the crime in the file when he appears before the court because he is not an intelligent person.

In his statement, Erkan Çakır said, 'Ahmet Özer might get rid of these accusations and be reinstated as mayor,' referring to the recent peace-oriented rhetoric. On the other hand, there are posts made by politicians who are members of the ruling party in favor of our client, which reveal so many contradictions in the file. The discretion is yours as to which one you will credit."

PROSECUTOR REQUESTED CONTINUATION OF DETENTION

The prosecutor requested the continuation of Ahmet Özer's detention. While Ahmet Özer was making his defense, he was warned by the presiding judge on the grounds that he was repeating himself. The presiding judge said that if he continued, he would end his defense. Özer said, "I haven't said these before; my life is at stake here, I have been in custody for 9 months." Including the tweet posted last night by MHP Deputy Chairman and Istanbul MP Feti Yıldız and the words of politicians about himself, Ahmet Özer asked, "Do these mean nothing to you?"

"MY CASE IS A SINCERITY TEST FOR PEACE"

Ahmet Özer took the floor regarding the detention request and said the following:

"Since the first day, my presumption of innocence has been violated. It has been clear since the first day that I am not a member of a terrorist organization; how does a country fall into such a situation? I cannot help but wonder what other people would do if even I am being tried with such allegations. The fact that politicians from both the opposition and the ruling party called my daughter, who is also my lawyer, to express their well wishes is proof of who I am.

This case of mine is a sincerity test for peace. These things are happening during the peace process that I also support. We entered a new process with the burning of weapons on July 11, but there is a major contradiction between the peace process and my being in custody. The post made by Mr. Feti Yıldız yesterday also confirms this. Who says Ahmet Özer is a reference point? A politician who is a partner of the ruling party. Why does he say this? Because they also know that I am not a member of a terrorist organization. If a peace process is to be carried out, why is Ahmet Özer still inside? Karar Newspaper columnist Fehmi Koru wrote this. I do not want to be released just because there is a peace process; I am not a member of a terrorist organization anyway. I think your court and the prosecutor's office that brought these allegations forward know this too. After this empty file was created about me, as of November 1, a secret witness and a witness who was paraded from file to file were brought into this case. Social peace cannot be achieved by excluding a part of Turkey. Courts and law enforcement exist for that country; they exist for the total peace of our country. We are not playing a game; everything is a part of this process. Society is watching this glaring contradiction with astonishment."

"THE PRESIDENT USES MY SLOGAN BUT A LAWSUIT IS FILED AGAINST ME"

According to journalist Muratcan Altuntoprak, Özer also referred to the slogan used by President Erdoğan during the holiday celebration. Özer reacted by saying, "The slogan 'Even if our names are different, our surname is Turkey' belongs to me. The President used this slogan during the last holiday. The President uses my slogan, but a lawsuit is filed against me. Does this fit into conscience?"

"WARNING" TO AHMET ÖZER'S SPEECH

While Ahmet Özer's speech was continuing, there were interventions from the court to Ahmet Özer's speech. Responding to the judge who said, "If you talk a little more, I will have to cut you off," Ahmet Özer continued his speech by saying, "But I am being tried for these; in this sense, will I not be able to defend myself regarding these issues?":

"I refute and reject all of these allegations. The absurdity of the secret witness is a hidden dagger stabbed into the heart of our judiciary. I am being tried here because my name was mentioned in Imralı 11 years ago, at a time when Mr. Bahçeli called Öcalan a founding leader and the PKK-KCK disbanded itself. Is this a conscientious thing? Mr. Numan Kurtulmuş's name is also mentioned in the same meeting. Now the same Numan Kurtulmuş is the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey; I am a member of a terrorist organization, is that so? A double standard is being applied..."

Judge: "If you repeat yourself, I will have to cut you off again. This is the second warning; if there is a third warning, I will cut off your speaking time."

Ahmet Özer: "Mr. President, I have been waiting for months to express myself here. What happened if I spoke 5 minutes more? My life is at stake here."

Judge: "I cannot know; I gave the second warning, I will cut off your speaking time at the third warning."

Lawyer Hasan Sinar: Even if you grant release today, my client will return to his cell in Silivri, but we are requesting release.

Lawyer Hasan Sinar spoke after Özer. Sinar requested Ahmet Özer's release:

"I am continuing my speech very calmly. Excluding the deranged person named Erkan Çakır, who cannot be considered a witness in our opinion, 5 witnesses who spoke today gave statements in favor of our client. The justification of 'witnesses have not been heard yet' from the previous court has been completely eliminated. Therefore, at this point, our expectation is that your court will see that these justifications have been eliminated based on the justifications put forward in the previous hearing and decide on the release of our client. I would also like to make a note about judicial control as a matter of procedure. Even if you grant release today, he will go to his cell in Silivri. Even if you grant judicial control, he will not be able to leave his cell. Therefore, I do not think that judicial control will be very functional for this stage of this trial. I request the release of our client."

Istanbul Bar Association President İbrahim Kaboğlu took the floor at the hearing. İbrahim Kaboğlu said the following:

"Ahmet Özer has been deprived of his liberty in a manner contrary to Article 19 of the Constitution. The rights of the voters who voted for Mr. Özer have also been violated; there is also a violation of Article 67 of the Constitution. Citizens have also been deprived of effective municipal services in accordance with Article 127 of the Constitution. As a faculty member who has taught the constitution, I feel the need to state these not as a result of a sympathy brought about by our colleagueship with Mr. Özer, but realistically. My speech is also a requirement of each of our constitutional and fair trial rights.

The decision you will pronounce in a little while will be very important for the realization of justice. The situation we have witnessed so far has been that Mr. Özer's 9-month detention has been a sanction in the context of constitutions. Our Constitution did not stop at Article 38; even if Turkey were in a state of emergency, mobilization, or war, the 'right to be presumed innocent' is an absolute right. No one can be considered guilty until their guilt is determined by a court decision. But all this practice we have witnessed has resulted in the creation of a perception of guilt regarding Ahmet Özer.

I would like to end my words by asking this question: If Mr. Özer had been tried without detention for 9 months, what would have changed in today's situation? Exactly this time last week, I was at the Kartalkaya hearing in Bolu. I witnessed the helplessness of the head of the delegation at that hearing. Aside from the fact that the Minister of Tourism, who should have been there, was not there, because even bureaucrats were not allowed to go to court, the judge there had to settle for the statements of the cook, the doorman, and fifth-degree officials to hold them responsible. But you are in the exact opposite situation. I believe that you will make a decision according to your conscience so that the perception of guilt of a person who should benefit from the presumption of innocence even in a war environment, by making a decision according to 138 here, can no longer be continued, and I thank you for your patience."

A release order was issued for Ahmet Özer with judicial control and a travel ban abroad. Özer's detention will continue due to the investigation in which Aziz İhsan Aktaş became a confessor on January 21.