Petition to the court from Ümit Polat, who gave a statement under effective remorse in the IMM case: He had said, 'I did not witness the bribery with my own eyes, I heard about it'
On the eighth day of the hearing held by the Istanbul 40th High Criminal Court, where new members were appointed following the acceptance of the IMM indictment, it was revealed that Ümit Polat, the detained Purchasing Manager of Ağaç A.Ş., submitted a petition to the court through his lawyer on Monday, March 23.
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It has been learned that detained Ağaç A.Ş. Purchasing Manager Ümit Polat, who had previously given statements twice under the effective remorse law, submitted a petition requesting not to attend the hearings.
Polat's lawyer requested that the court not bring his client to the hearing, stating that his client's mental health had deteriorated.
The first trial of the case against the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM), involving 407 defendants, 107 of whom are in custody, continues to be heard in Hall No. 1 at the Marmara Open Penal Execution Institution campus in Silivri.
According to the report by Furkan Karabay from Medyascope, the petition submitted by lawyer Sevgi Dağdemir stated that Polat's mental health had deteriorated due to the "tensions and intense atmosphere" in the courtroom.
It was claimed that Polat, who allegedly "could not present his detailed defense regarding the events due to the psychological tension he experienced," needed to make his defense in a more suitable and calm environment.
Polat's lawyer, Dağdemir, requested that her client participate in the hearing via SEGBİS (Audio and Video Information System) and be granted the opportunity to provide a written defense.
He had said, "I did not witness the bribery with my own eyes, I heard about it".
Ümit Polat had stated that he has been working within the IMM since 1988 and has been at Ağaç A.Ş. for over 25 years. Polat had alleged that at the beginning of 2024, General Manager Ali Sukas called him and demanded a 10 percent share from purchases made from a specific list, telling him, 'You will be the one to ask for this.'
Polat continued by claiming that Sukas said, 'I am not asking for it, the higher-ups are,' and that he refused the situation by saying, 'Today we say the higher-ups want it, tomorrow it becomes Ümit wanted it, Ali Sukas wanted it.' Stating that he found an intermediary and conveyed what happened to Istanbul Governor Davut Gül, Polat said, 'The Governor said, "Let him not make a sound, let him wait." I started to wait. In the process that began with the arrest of Ekrem İmamoğlu on March 19, I went and gave my statement. 4-5 people mentioned my name and left,' he had said.
Lawyer Yılmaz had asked Polat, 'Did you witness Ali Sukas receiving money?' Ümit Polat had replied, 'I did not witness it with my own eyes.'
Regarding the collection of money for the election, Polat had used the expressions, 'I am telling you what people are talking about. I already heard it. I never said "I saw it" in any of my statements.'