No progress in the case of leaking information to Cevheri Güven!..

Müyesser YILDIZ 12punto.com.tr

In the trial where police officer Serkan Dinçer, who worked at the Ankara Narcotics Branch and is accused of leaking Bora Kaplan's statements to fugitive Cevheri Güven—who is part of the "FETÖ" media structure—is being tried alongside police chiefs Murat Çelik, Kerem Gökay Öner, and Şevket Demircan, who conducted the Bora Kaplan operation; a decision was made to continue the detention of Dinçer, who has been imprisoned for 2 years, while the request to separate the files of the other defendants was rejected. When defense attorneys reminded the court that they had determined a journalist named S.K. had sent the statement in question to Cevheri Güven and asked whether a criminal complaint had been filed against this person, the Presiding Judge replied, "You can file one as well. There is no rule that the court must file it."

In the hearing held on July 11 at the Ankara 17th High Criminal Court, the Prosecutor, who presented his opinion on the merits, had requested that the detained defendant Serkan Dinçer be sentenced to 10 years for membership in an organization, and that former Ankara Deputy Police Chief Murat Çelik, former Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime (KOM) Branch Manager Kerem Gökay Öner, and Deputy KOM Branch Manager Şevket Demircan be sentenced to up to 5 years in prison for "breach of confidentiality and misconduct in office."

It was expected that the defendants would present their defenses against this opinion and that a verdict would be reached at the hearing on September 10. However, due to the change of the Presiding Judge and the new Judge stating that there were other matters to investigate, the defenses were not taken.

At today's hearing of the case, the Presiding Judge announced that the data analysis report regarding the phones used by Serkan Dinçer had arrived and then asked questions about some findings in the report. When the Judge said, "Probably secret imams," regarding two names listed in the records as "group imams," Serkan Dinçer stated that he did not know these people.

Repeating his previous defenses, Dinçer explained that he was taken into custody after providing an intelligence note about FETÖ members to Engin Dinç, the then-Head of the EGM Intelligence Department and current Ankara Police Chief, and alleged that the former police chief K.A., who reported him, was a classmate of defendant Murat Çelik and that Çelik had him beaten by saying, "What do you want from K.A.?" Dinçer also requested his release, stating that it had emerged that journalist S.K. had sent Bora Kaplan's statements to Cevheri Güven.

Suna Öztaşdöndüren, the lawyer for one of the defendants, former KOM Branch Manager Kerem Gökay Öner, stated that it had emerged that her client and the other police officers had no connection to the incident in question or to Serkan Dinçer, and therefore requested that their files be separated and that they be acquitted.

Şevket Demircan's lawyer, Recep Öksüz, also requested the separation of the files, saying, "They carried out the Ayhan Bora Kaplan operation, and everything happened to them. The Ayhan Bora Kaplan criminal organization is an organization with judicial, political, and foreign legs. In the future, the extensions of this criminal organization will also be revealed."

LAWYER-DINÇER POLEMIC

Deniz Dilşad Güldenoğlu, the lawyer for former Ankara Deputy Police Chief and Police Chief Inspector Murat Çelik, stated that she wanted to ask Serkan Dinçer a question, and then explained that Çelik was not overseeing the relevant branch at the time he was taken into custody, that K.A. was not his friend but only a classmate, and that he might have confused Murat Çelik with Murat Düzgün, before asking, "Why does he think this way?"

Dinçer replied:

"The police who interrogated me called Murat Çelik, then they beat me. K.A. is not in the same class as Murat Düzgün. Also, he says Murat Çelik is not friends with K.A. When the man came here, he said, 'Murat Çelik is my friend.'"

Lawyer Güldenoğlu emphasized that Murat Çelik had adhered to the law throughout his professional life and said that while her client should have been acquitted, the trial was being prolonged because of Serkan Dinçer.

Murat Çelik's other lawyer, Ahmet Ulukanlıgil, who criticized the prosecutor's opinion on the merits, said, "What benefit would it be for him to leak Bora Kaplan's statement to Cevheri Güven? This is a forced case and strengthens the claim that Ayhan Bora Kaplan has extensions in the judiciary."

DINÇER WAS DISMISSED 2 MONTHS AGO

After the statements were completed, the Prosecutor, stating that he reiterated his opinion on the merits, requested that Serkan Dinçer's detention continue and that Dinçer's request to hear witnesses and the request to separate the files of other defendants be rejected.

In response to the prosecutor's opinion, Serkan Dinçer said, "My personal rights have been severely violated for 2 years. My family and I are victims. They are trying to save themselves by throwing their own filth onto others," and requested that the connections between Murat Çelik and K.A. be investigated.

Dinçer's lawyer explained that the investigation began with the hostility of FETÖ-affiliated commissioners and the branch manager K.A. who protected them, and that it had been proven that no information or documents were sent to Cevheri Güven. Regarding the allegation that Dinçer is a FETÖ member, the lawyer said:

"Serkan Dinçer is not a FETÖ member. He is also coded as 'out of field' in the SD card seized from the secret witness codenamed Garson. If the Garson code is taken as a basis in other cases, an acquittal decision should be made. He himself said that he had an affiliation with the Meşveret group of the Nur community, that he went to their sohbet meetings while in Isparta, and that he stayed in their houses as a volunteer. He was dismissed from his profession a few months ago. Therefore, he no longer has a place to go or anyone he can influence. Except for those who commit armed attacks, 2 years of uninterrupted detention is not seen. Let his release be decided."

After the break, the Presiding Judge announced that it was decided to continue Serkan Dinçer's detention, to identify the names mentioned as "group leaders" in the phone records and to ask whether there is a FETÖ/PYD investigation against them, to separate the files of the other defendants, and to reject Dinçer's requests to hear witnesses. The hearing was adjourned to January 20.

At the end of the hearing, Şevket Demircan's lawyer, Recep Öksüz, asked whether a criminal complaint had been filed against journalist S.K., who sent Bora Kaplan's statement to Cevheri Güven. The Presiding Judge replied, "You can file one as well. There is no rule that the court must file it."