Ümit Özdağ in court today… His mother Gönül Özdağ: ‘Despite the fatigue of my age…’
Zafer Party Chairman Ümit Özdağ, who has been held in custody at the Marmara Closed Prison since January 21, will appear before a judge today. Speaking to 12punto ahead of the hearing, which will take place at 10:30 AM in Silivri, Özdağ’s mother Gönül Özdağ said, “If the judge presiding over the case knows the meaning of the phrase ‘Justice is the Foundation of the State’ written on the wall behind them, then I will embrace my son in Ankara tomorrow.”
Hazal Güven
Hazal Güven - 12punto.com.tr
Zafer Party Chairman Ümit Özdağ, who was detained in Ankara on January 20 and arrested on January 21 due to his remarks regarding President Erdoğan during a speech at the Zafer Party Provincial Chairs Consultation Meeting in Antalya on January 19, will appear before a judge today.
Following the acceptance of the indictment prepared months later against Özdağ, who was arrested on charges of “inciting the public to hatred and hostility or insulting” and sent to the Marmara Closed Prison in Silivri, the first hearing will be held today at 10:30 AM in the courtroom inside the Silivri Penal Execution Institution.
Gönül Özdağ, the mother of Özdağ, who faces up to 7 years and 10 months in prison and will appear before a judge for the first time exactly 142 days after his arrest, spoke to 12punto ahead of the hearing.
Özdağ stated, “I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. But as a legal professional, I know what should happen. In fact, let alone being arrested, an investigation should not even have been opened because there is no crime committed. The detention currently being applied has ceased to be a measure and is being applied as a punishment.”
‘DESPITE THE FATIGUE OF MY AGE…’
90-year-old Gönül Özdağ continued her remarks by saying, “The law requires my son to be released tomorrow.”
“But will he be released tomorrow? If the judge presiding over the case knows the meaning of the phrase ‘Justice is the Foundation of the State’ written on the wall behind them, and if they feel the weight and responsibility of that sentence on their shoulders and in their conscience, then I will embrace my son in Ankara tomorrow. If they do not feel it, then as a retired legal professional, as well as an officer’s daughter and an officer’s wife, despite the fatigue of my age and despite not being able to reconcile all these events with this country, I will continue to be patient, to wait, to stand by my children in the struggle they are waging to support them, and to pray for justice and the law to be realized.”
‘I COULD ONLY HEAR HIS VOICE TWICE ON THE PHONE’
Describing the communication difficulties Özdağ has faced in prison, Gönül Özdağ said:
“They took my son on January 19, 2025, and brought him to Istanbul. They took him on one charge and arrested him on another. It will be almost 5 months. In this process, I have been able to go and see him twice, and I have been able to hear his voice on the phone twice. He has the right to make a 10-minute phone call once a week, and he can call the numbers of mine, my daughter’s, and my grandchild’s that he previously registered. But he can only call one phone number each week. Naturally, he uses this right primarily for my dear Alp (Ümit Özdağ’s son).”
Calling for attendance at today’s hearing, Gönül Özdağ expressed, “For the peace of our country and the survival of our Republic, rights, law, and justice are absolute necessities. Without law, without justice, there is no state. Justice is the Foundation of the State. I believe that all our citizens whose hearts beat for rights, law, and justice will follow the hearing in Silivri tomorrow.”