Two individuals tried in the Sinan Ateş murder case to appear in court again!

The trial of Ankara Police Department Murder Bureau Chief Mustafa Ensar Aykal and lawyer Serdar Öktem, whose files were separated from the 22-defendant case concerning the murder of former Ülkü Ocakları Education and Culture Foundation President and Hacettepe University faculty member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sinan Ateş, will begin on February 6.

In its verdict hearing on October 10, the Ankara 32nd High Criminal Court ruled to separate the case file of defendants Öktem and Aykal, who were charged with "aiding in premeditated murder," with Aykal also facing charges of "illegally obtaining and disseminating personal data."

RESPONSE FROM THE US WILL NOT ARRIVE IN LESS THAN A YEAR

The court had made this decision to prevent the case, which includes detained defendants, from being delayed, citing the defendants' "refusal" to provide their mobile phone passwords and the fact that a response to the request for judicial assistance from the US to obtain these passwords would not be received in less than approximately one year.

Öktem and Aykal will appear before the judge for the first time on February 6, 2025, within the scope of the separated case file.

WHAT HAD HAPPENED?

The Ankara 32nd High Criminal Court had sentenced the shooter Eray Özyağci, the driver of the motorcycle used in the incident Vedat Balkaya, and Suat Kurt, who conducted reconnaissance at the murder scene, to aggravated life imprisonment for "premeditated murder," and to 13 years in prison each for "attempted murder" against the complainant Selman Bozkurt.

Özyağci was also sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison for "possession and carrying of an unlicensed firearm."

Doğukan Çep and Tolgahan Demirbaş were sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment for "inciting premeditated murder."

The court sentenced defendants Aşkın Mert Gelenbey, Murat Can Çolak, and Emre Yüksel to 18 years in prison each, and defendant Mustafa Uzunlar to 15 years in prison for "aiding in premeditated murder," while defendant Alper Atay was sentenced to 2 years in prison for "aiding and abetting a criminal."

THEY HAD BEEN RELEASED

The court acquitted defendants Zekeriya Asarkaya, Hakan Saraç, Ufuk Köktürk, Mehmet Yüce, Osman Bayraktar, Caner Günay, Umut Ersoy, Çağlar Zorlu, Aytaç Ataç, and Erdem Karadeniz of the charges brought against them, and ruled that a report be filed with the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding defendant Günay for the crime of "aiding and abetting a criminal."

The court had separated the files of Öktem and Aykal, ruling for the release of Öktem while ordering that Aykal continue to be tried while in detention.