Secret witness Serdar Sertçelik’s escape trial starts from scratch!..

Müyesser YILDIZ 12punto.com.tr

A decision has been made to restart the trial of 11 defendants, including 6 police personnel, who were accused of negligence in the escape of Serdar Sertçelik, both a defendant and a secret witness in the case where Bora Kaplan was sentenced to 68 years in prison on charges of being a criminal organization leader. The Ankara 13th Criminal Court of First Instance, which was hearing the case, issued a “lack of jurisdiction” decision after four sessions and ruled that the file be sent to the High Criminal Court. It was noted that the “lack of jurisdiction” request, which had been requested by the prosecutor and previously rejected, was granted after a change of judge.

In today's session of the case heard at the 13th Criminal Court of First Instance, the defendants, including commissioners Gökhan Karaca, Ufuk Gültekin, and Metehan İlkyaz, who conducted the Bora Kaplan operation, as well as Nurullah Özgür Kopuk, who facilitated the connection between Serdar Sertçelik and the police, and their lawyers were present.

THE BULLET PLACED ON THE DESK AT THE POLICE DEPARTMENT

At the beginning of the hearing, while the defendants whose statements were taken requested their acquittal, Deniz Dilşad Güldenoğlu, the lawyer for former Ankara Deputy Police Chief and Chief Police Inspector Murat Çelik, stated that the Bora Kaplan organization is a very dangerous organization with a judicial branch, saying, “This trial is a suicide cry for the Bora Kaplan criminal organization to stand up again.” While explaining that Murat Çelik has spent his life fighting against terrorist and criminal organizations, Attorney Güldenoğlu revealed that when her client took his first step into the Ankara Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime (KOM) Department on August 23, 2023, the only thing waiting for him was not a pen but bullets, and that he faced threats before he even sat at his desk. While presenting the photographs of the bullets in question and the report related to them to the court, Attorney Güldenoğlu emphasized that Murat Çelik is a hero.

Murat Çelik’s other lawyer, Cengiz Varol, explained that the Witness Protection Branch, which monitored Serdar Sertçelik 24/7 for 41 days, somehow did not know what happened on the night of November 27 when Sertçelik escaped, and accused the director of this branch.

''POLICE COMPROMISED THE DOCTOR'S WILL''

The lawyer for Dr. Recep Emre Şişman, who issued a report stating that “there is a medical objection to his detention” regarding Serdar Sertçelik, claimed that his client was directed and that instructions were given for this direction, saying, “My client is an 8-month assistant doctor. The police insisted on standing over him and had this statement written in the report. His will was compromised. He has no intent to commit a crime. He is also not in a position to understand the consequences of the text he wrote.”

Recep Öksüz, the lawyer for one of the defendants, former KOM Branch Deputy Director Şevket Demircan, stated that Prosecutor Mustafa Kaya, who conducted the Bora Kaplan investigation, testified that “the police had no negligence in the operations carried out,” and said the following:

“In my 40-year legal career, I have never seen such an indictment. The prosecutor who prepared the indictment is the secret witness prosecutor. The secret witness prosecutor cannot write this indictment. The political, judicial, and police extensions of the Bora Kaplan criminal organization, which has gained an international dimension, have been exposed. These national heroes are being tried with an indictment that this person had prepared and sent.”

THE MISSING POLICE OFFICER

Suna Öztaşdöndören, the lawyer for former KOM Branch Director Kerem Gökay Öner, pointed out that Ahmet Deniz, one of the police witnesses heard in court, reported that police officer Resul Altun conveyed the instruction regarding the report to be given to Serdar Sertçelik, and that a writ was written to the Police Department for this officer to be heard, but the Police Department replied, “There is no one named Resul Altun.” After repeating the request for this person to be heard, she said:

“Never in the history of Turkey has a criminal organization been this powerful. A mafia is so powerful that it is intertwined with members of the judiciary, and non-prosecution decisions were repeatedly given for the members of the criminal organization. Even if the defendants had negligence in Serdar Sertçelik’s escape, the Witness Protection Branch Director also has negligence. Serdar Sertçelik is requesting to join the file in the Court of Appeal regarding Bora Kaplan; but no response comes to any of the writs written by this court. We want a new writ to be written so that Serdar Sertçelik can testify, and also for Dr. Recep Emre Şişman to be present at the subsequent hearings. We need to learn who caused him to write a report under pressure and direction, saying ‘there is an objection to his detention,’ despite the Hippocratic Oath he took. We believe that an adverse decision to be given here would mean the judiciary is presenting a gift package to Bora Kaplan.”

After the statements were completed, the Prosecutor, who was asked for his opinion, stated that the court with jurisdiction over the crimes subject to the trial is the High Criminal Court, and repeated his request for a “lack of jurisdiction” decision.

While the defendants and their lawyers did not accept this opinion on the grounds that it would prolong the trial, they reminded that the previous judge had rejected the “lack of jurisdiction” request.

However, the new judge issued a “lack of jurisdiction” decision and referred the file to the High Criminal Court.

Müyesser YILDIZ

September 17, 2025