'Şahinler' gang leader Sedat Şahin went to kiss Bahçeli's hand after his release: The behind-the-scenes of the release...

“Şahinler” gang leader Sedat Şahin was imprisoned as part of a case heard at the Istanbul 10th High Criminal Court on charges of “Unauthorized Possession or Transfer of Dangerous Materials,” “Armed Robbery by Blocking the Road with Multiple People,” and “Intentional Killing.” However, he was released from Izmir Buca Prison in July following a sudden decision.

Following his release from prison, Şahin visited MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli, and MHP Deputy Chairman Semih Yalçın stated in a post on his X account, “Our brother Sedat Şahin visited our leader, Mr. Devlet Bahçeli.”

According to the report by Seyhan Avşar from halktv.com.tr, the behind-the-scenes of Şahin's release is as follows:

A DECISION TO CONTINUE DETENTION HAD BEEN MADE

"The date was July 12, 2023… Şahin’s lawyers appealed their client's detention. The court panel handling the trial reviewed the file. The court decided to continue Sedat Şahin’s detention on grounds such as 'the existence of concrete evidence indicating strong suspicion of the crime charged, the amount of punishment foreseen in the law for the charged crimes, and considering that judicial control measures would be insufficient while the detention measure was found to be proportionate to the charged crime, and that there was no change in the defendant's legal status.'

LAST-DAY APPEAL

Şahin’s lawyers had exactly 7 days to appeal this decision. The judicial recess was set to begin the day after the appeal period expired. Şahin’s lawyers waited until the last day and appealed the decision to continue detention on July 19. On July 20, the presiding judge and members of the Istanbul 10th High Criminal Court, who had issued the decision to continue detention, went on vacation.

PANEL ON VACATION, ŞAHIN OUT

A new presiding judge and two members were immediately appointed to the Istanbul 10th High Criminal Court. The appeal by Şahin’s lawyers should have been reviewed by a higher court (i.e., the Istanbul 11th High Criminal Court). But that did not happen. The new panel, which had no knowledge of the trial process, took the file and decided to release Sedat Şahin.

The presiding judge who issued the release decision for Şahin was Hakan Türkön. Following this noteworthy release decision, this individual was first appointed as the Chamber President of the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice and then as a member of the Court of Cassation.