Significant development in the newborn gang investigation: Reason for threatening the prosecutor revealed

The reason behind the attempt by Mustafa Kemal Zengin, who posed as an undersecretary and threatened the prosecutor in his office during the investigation into the newborn gang, has been revealed. It was understood that Zengin was trying to get Tuğce Toptemel, who was arrested while working as a nurse at the Birinci Hospital, released. While threatening Public Prosecutor Yavuz Engin in his office, Zengin claimed that there were certain individuals who would carry out an assassination. The two detained individuals who were the subject of Zengin's claims filed a complaint, asserting that the accusations against them were baseless. After the arrest of Mustafa Kemal Zengin and lawyer Aylin Arslanatar, who had come to his office and issued threats even against his family, Prosecutor Engin had them handcuffed in reverse at the courthouse door and watched them. Zengin, who both threatened the prosecutor and suggested they take a photo together, being handcuffed in reverse also led to comments such as, "This is the only way to take a joint photo with the prosecutor."

Yavuz Çelik and Baki Çelik, whom the prosecutor had arrested along with 5 others following the threats, targeted Zengin in their testimonies. 

It has emerged that Baki Çelik and Yavuz Çelik, the detained suspects whom Mustafa Kemal Zengin—who introduced himself as a former Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior—had presented to the prosecutor in his office as "the people who carried out the Pope assassination" while issuing death threats, and later claimed "They are very powerful on the street, they were going to kill the prosecutor, I wanted to warn you," also accused Mustafa Kemal Zengin.

In his testimony, Yavuz Çelik stated that Tuğçe Toptemel, whom he met with Mustafa Kemal Zengin to get released, was his stepdaughter, saying, "We educated Tuğçe together with her mother, and she became a nurse. About two years before she was arrested, Tuğçe started working as a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at the Private Birinci Hospital in the Beylikdüzü district. About 2-3 months ago, I don't remember the exact date, she was detained and arrested in operations related to health institutions, the content of which I do not know."

He stated that when they later met with Mustafa Kemal Zengin, he mentioned his daughter's detention, and Zengin said, "How many years have we known each other? I want to help. Give me Tuğçe's information and file number." He continued, "I gave them to him. I thought he would research it through his lawyer circles based on his words. He said, 'I will let you know.' About 10-15 days after this meeting, Mustafa Kemal Zengin came to the parking lot and we sat down. He told us that he had researched our daughter Tuğçe's file, that her additional statement would be taken soon, and that she could be released. However, he did not say from whom or how he received this information."

HE THREATENED THE PROSECUTOR FOR THE NURSE

Çelik stated in his testimony, "I called Tuğçe's lawyer and boyfriend, Mustafa G., and explained the situation. He told me that he couldn't make sense of it because she would have to be a confessor to give an additional statement, that Tuğçe was already the most innocent person in this file, and that there was no situation requiring an additional statement. He got into his car and left the parking lot."

Baki Çelik, in his testimony, said, "About 2.5 months ago, Mustafa Kemal Zengin told my brother Yavuz Çelik and me that he had retired judge and prosecutor acquaintances, that they were practicing law, that business was good, and that he could give them the file of Tuğçe Toptemel, who was in police custody. However, I did not accept this offer; I said that since Tuğçe Toptemel's boyfriend was a lawyer, he was following the file himself. I don't know who the prosecutor is; we never talked about the prosecutor with Mustafa Kemal Zengin."

Stating that he had never been to the Büyükçekmece Courthouse and that he did not know for what purpose Zengin used his name in the prosecutor's office, Çelik said, "I know very well that a prosecutor cannot be threatened in his office and that no detainee can be released through threats. The words Mustafa Kemal Zengin said to the Public Prosecutor using my name regarding political party officials are completely baseless; I have no membership in any political party."

NEWBORN INVESTIGATION PROSECUTOR DID NOT FORGIVE THE THREAT

The first arrests in the investigation into the newborn gang were made on April 22, 2024. 22 people were arrested and sent to prison. 

While the investigation was ongoing, in August 2024, lawyer Aylin Arslanatar called Public Prosecutor Yavuz Engin.

Arslanatar, who first spoke by phone with Engin, the Prosecutor for Terror and Organized Crime Investigation at the Büyükçekmece Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, threatened that if he did not release certain suspects, an assassination would be carried out against the prosecutor and his family could be harmed. A person named Mustafa Kemal Zengin also made threats along with lawyer Arslanatar. 

An investigation was conducted into how information regarding the prosecutor's relatives and where they lived was leaked, and a recording device was placed in the prosecutor's office.

On October 1, Zengin, who was determined to be in contact with lawyer Arslanatar, claimed to be a former undersecretary and made suggestions and threats to the prosecutor.

Zengin's explicit death threat against the prosecutor was recorded. During the examination, it was also suspected that the prosecutor's personal and family information had been queried from the system by 3 gendarmerie personnel on a date prior to the threats. 

11 people were detained in the operation carried out after Prosecutor Engin was threatened. 

Mustafa Kemal Zengin, who threatened the prosecutor in his office, spoke in the room where a hidden camera had been placed, along with the baby gang's lawyer who was with him.

Zengin's following words were recorded:

"If I have given instructions to 50 people, if 50 people are acting on my behalf, you cannot finish collecting those who come. I'm telling you, these are not normal people. Release the one inside. Get rid of the trouble. Now the issue is not that issue, it is the issue of intentional harm. The person in front of you is not a fair person. The time you enter and leave the shooting range, the increase in the security with you, who is your family talking to? Who is your sister talking to? Where is your father going? Is his wife going to the grocery store? Is his father going to the mosque? What precautions will you take? Without knowing who you are facing."

It was understood that while Zengin and Arslanatar were listing their threats, Prosecutor Engin listened calmly and tried to get these people to talk as much as possible. 

Following these threats, Prosecutor Engin took action again. Within the scope of the investigation initiated by the Büyükçekmece Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on October 11, 11 people involved in the threat incident were detained.

PROSECUTOR WATCHED THOSE WHO THREATENED HIM AT THE DOOR

While 3 gendarmerie personnel were released after their procedures, 8 suspects, including 2 lawyers, were referred to the Büyükçekmece Courthouse.

Of the 8 suspects whose testimony procedures were completed at the prosecutor's office within the scope of the investigation, 5 were referred to the criminal judgeship of peace with a request for arrest, and 3 with a request for judicial control conditions.

The judgeship decided to arrest lawyer Aylin Arslantatar, Mustafa Kemal Zengin, Baki Çelik, Yavuz Çelik, and Muhammed Emin Orhan for the crimes of "violating the privacy of private life," "threatening with more than one person," "attempted premeditated murder of a person due to the public duty they perform," "influencing those performing judicial duties, and obtaining or disseminating personal data unlawfully," and decided to release lawyer M.G., I.K., and T.A. with judicial control conditions.