Prison sentence requested for former Beşiktaş Mayor Murat Hazinedar

The trial of defendants, including former Beşiktaş Mayor Murat Hazinedar, continued as part of the investigation conducted into the Beşiktaş Municipality. Eight defendants, who are being tried without arrest, and their lawyers were present at the hearing held at the Istanbul 31st High Criminal Court.

In the prosecutor's opinion, it was stated that while Rıfat Örnek served for a period as the deputy mayor responsible for zoning affairs at the Beşiktaş Municipality, Municipal Council Member Hüseyin Avni Sipahi had no official authority regarding zoning. Despite this, it was emphasized that Murat Hazinedar allocated a private office to Sipahi on the fourth floor of the municipal building and that zoning applications were reviewed by Sipahi.

According to the opinion, after zoning applications were submitted to the Beşiktaş Municipality Zoning and Urban Planning Directorate, they were presented to Sipahi by his advisor, Uğur Şahin. Following instructions, Şahin would invite applicants to Sipahi's office and inform them that they needed to deposit money into the Beşiktaş Municipality Beltaş Foundation for their zoning documents to be approved. It was stated that otherwise, the applications would not be processed.

Similarly, it was stated that money was demanded from individuals applying for licenses and that illicit gains were obtained in this way. Furthermore, it was alleged that Murat Hazinedar requested complainants to make donations to the municipality.

The prosecution requested prison sentences ranging from 10 months and 15 days to 4 years and 6 months for Murat Hazinedar, Hüseyin Avni Sipahi, Rıfat Örnek, Mürvet Günday, Selçuk Bartınlı, Çetin Kırışgil, and Mustafa Sarı for the crime of "misconduct in office." Acquittal was requested for other charges on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence. Similar acquittal requests were made for 9 other defendants.

The court adjourned the hearing, granting time for the defense attorneys to prepare their arguments against the prosecutor's opinion.

In the prepared indictment, it was requested that Murat Hazinedar be sentenced to a total of 70 years and 6 months to 154 years in prison for the crimes of "extortion," "bribery," and "misconduct in office." Prison sentences ranging from 43.5 years to 96 years were requested for Hüseyin Avni Sipahi, 29 years to 62 years for Rıfat Örnek, and 10 years to 20 years for Çetin Kırışgil. Prison sentences ranging from 4 years to 37 years were also requested for the other defendants.