Interesting developments in the case followed by Alican

Alican Uludağ, one of our country's best judicial reporters, has been in prison for 25 days.

On February 19, he was detained at his home at night, in front of his children, on charges of "publicly insulting the President, publicly disseminating misleading information to the public, and degrading the institutions of the state" . He was hastily taken to Istanbul. The next day, he was arrested solely for "insulting the President."

The authorities surely know, but in our opinion, the reason for Alican's detention and arrest remains a mystery. This is because none of the 22 posts cited as evidence of a "crime" contain any insult toward the President.

The Ministry of Justice granted the investigation permit for Alican within a few hours on February 19, but the request for permission to draft the indictment has been pending since March 2.

Because the indictment for the 22 posts has not been written for 24 days, Alican rightfully protested as follows:

"Those who are in a hurry to throw me in prison are not even letting justice move at a snail's pace to bring me before the court. If the prosecutor is busy, I can write my own indictment with the meticulousness of a judicial reporter and submit it to the prosecutor. If your concern is not justice but revenge, subjugation, and silencing, show the courage and virtue to say so openly. But remember that journalists do not stay silent and do not bow down.

Another absurdity is that the place where the non-existent 'crime' was committed, and where Alican lives and works, is Ankara, but the address for detention and arrest is Istanbul.

This practice has become a full-blown 'precedent.' Remember; Zafer Party Chairman Ümit Özdağ was detained in Ankara while eating dinner due to a speech he gave in Antalya and was taken to Istanbul. When his indictment was prepared, the court issued a 'lack of jurisdiction' decision and sent it to Antalya. When Erdoğan's lawyer objected to that court decision on the grounds that 'we learned of Ümit Özdağ's statement in Istanbul,' the case was heard in Istanbul. But during this back-and-forth process, Özdağ continued to remain in prison.

Similarly, former Intelligence Department Head of the General Directorate of Security Sabri Uzun was also detained in Ankara and taken to Istanbul due to a post he made on charges of 'insulting the President'.Fortunately, he was not arrested and was released under judicial control measures. However, the court in Istanbul also issued a 'lack of jurisdiction' decision for his indictment and sent the file to Ankara, and Uzun was tried there.

What we are saying is; if his indictment is written, Alican will most likely experience a similar process. The court will send the file to Ankara with a 'lack of jurisdiction' decision, but in the meantime, Alican will continue to serve the sentence handed down in advance!..

THIS IS HOW THE LATEST NEWS WAS CONFIRMED

While Alican is in prison, let us report on the developments regarding some of the issues he was following.

The last report he filed one day before he was taken into custody concerned the elections held at the Court of Cassation for membership in the Constitutional Court. While commenting on how the name to be appointed by Erdoğan as a result of this election would affect the balance within the Constitutional Court, he had shared the information that current Constitutional Court member İrfan Fidan would first run for Deputy President and then for President.

Eighteen days after Alican was arrested, the election for the Deputy Presidency of the Constitutional Court was held, and İrfan Fidan was elected.

THE CASE OF THE FAMOUS PUBLIC CONTRACTOR

There was another report Alican filed 35 days before his arrest. The subject of the report was the case filed 7 years later against Murat Çeçen, Chairman of CCN Holding and Board Member of IC İçtaş Construction—known as one of the businesspeople close to the government who has secured major public tenders such as the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge and Northern Ring Motorway Project, Antalya Airport, the Turkish House in New York, the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, and the 2nd Stage 1st and 2nd sections of the Ankara-Istanbul High-Speed Train Project—on allegations that he threatened a businessperson named C.D., who worked as a subcontractor on the construction of the Mersin and Bilkent City Hospitals.

I also attended that first hearing in January, but since Alican had written about it before me, I could not report on it. I went to the second hearing held recently—or rather, the one that could not be held—in Alican's place, so to speak. After the hearing, I sent a message saying, 'If you want, I can send you the notes so you can write the story from prison,' but Alican wanted me to write it.

First, let us look at Alican's report on the first hearing; in summary, he explained the following:

“DURUŞMADA BUNLAR DA OLDU

Let me add other details not included in Alican's report from my own notes.

His lawyers stated that Murat Çeçen could not attend the hearing because he was abroad, and requested that he be heard at the next hearing in Istanbul, as he resides there.

C.D.'s lawyer, Abdullah Kaya, objected, stating, "The suspect in the file has not given a statement to any police department or prosecutor; they could not take it. He said, 'I am busy,' and did not come. You can see from the MERNIS system whether he is registered in Istanbul or not. Let his statement be taken in Ankara. Let us also be present. We want to participate in the cross-examination. Let it not be said later, 'I came, I gave it, I left.'"

C.D. voiced the following allegations regarding what he experienced:

“

He wanted us to take over the Mersin City Hospital project because his Azerbaijani partners were leaving. He said, 'I give you my word of honor, let this place open. Because the President will come to the opening.' We did not meet again after the opening. I was owed 14.5 million Euros. I could not reach him for a long time, so I called his father. When he called me to the Bilkent City Hospital construction site, I had two phones. They took one, but they did not notice the other. I went to the restroom and started the voice recording. That was my only option. He threatened me for 44 minutes. He wanted me to write a release document by hand, saying, 'You didn't see or hear what happened here, don't make a sound. I will bury you in the foundation of the construction site, and no one will even know.' I have 11 companies and 3,500 employees. Only a psychopath would do this. Beyond the money, it is humiliating. The problem is, I cannot tolerate this banditry. Unfortunately, this is a group that has victimized many people like me by using the power of the state. They bankrupted a 25-year-old firm. They did this to many people; they cannot file complaints out of fear. Hundreds of people were bankrupted and ruined at the Bilkent construction site. What was done is humiliating. This is not the middle of nowhere; let this not be done to others.”The dispute began when businessman C.D. claimed he was owed 8.5 million euros from the Mersin City Hospital construction and 500,000 euros from CCN Holding for the Bilkent City Hospital construction. In the petition submitted to the prosecutor's office by C.D.'s lawyer, Abdullah Kaya, it was stated that Murat Çeçen called D. to Ankara to discuss the commercial dispute. According to the allegations in the petition, C.D., who arrived at the Ankara Bilkent City Hospital construction site on February 22, 2018, with his driver and business partner from Istanbul, was taken into a vehicle alone at the entrance and brought into the construction site. The petition alleged, 'The client did not want to enter the construction site, but the suspect's armed men confined the client to a remote part of the site with verbal harassment and physical assault.' According to C.D.'s claim, he was subjected to a body search, his phone was confiscated, and he was kept waiting on a chair for two hours with armed individuals standing over him. When Murat Çeçen arrived in the room, C.D. recorded the 44-minute conversation with a second phone in his pocket. According to the recording, C.D. said he wanted to collect his debt through legal means. The person he identified as Murat Çeçen argued that there was no debt, that a release document would be prepared, and that he had to sign it, otherwise he would not be able to leave the site. According to the documents, the person identified as Çeçen said, 'My man will come to me, I will think about what should be done to you, I am giving you one last chance. You have no other chance after this. Know that if you accept, you accept; if you don't, you are my enemy. I will treat you differently the first time I see you. (...) There is no such thing as leaving you wounded. Don't worry, I won't leave you wounded... That's why this is your last chance. (...) Okay? There is no such thing as a debt, you have no money owed to you by me.' The petition alleged that Çeçen called a few more people to the site, that a protocol was prepared for C.D. to sign under the escort of armed individuals, and that C.D. said he would not sign it. According to the petition, Çeçen then left the room, saying he could not leave there without signing. It is alleged that C.D. found an opening after a while, left the room, and departed the construction site... C.D. filed a criminal complaint against Murat Çeçen with the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in 2018, submitting the 44-minute audio recording as evidence. However, a lawsuit was not filed against Çeçen for a long time. During this process, Murat Çeçen did not go to give a statement despite the prosecutor's office's invitation. On April 6, 2023, the prosecutor's office issued a decision of non-prosecution against Murat Çeçen for the crimes of insult, looting, deprivation of liberty, and threats. Upon the objection of C.D.'s lawyer, Abdullah Kaya, the Ankara 4th Criminal Court of Peace overturned this decision on July 19, 2023, and the investigation was reopened. However, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office could not take Murat Çeçen's statement in the second investigation either. As a result of the investigation, the prosecutor's office only issued an indictment against Murat Çeçen on May 7, 2025, for the crime of threatening. A prison sentence of 6 months to 2 years was requested for Çeçen. The trial of Murat Çeçen began today at the Ankara 90th Criminal Court of First Instance. Murat Çeçen did not attend the hearing either. C.D. and his lawyer were present at the hearing. His lawyer, Abdullah Kaya, noted that the case should be heard in the High Criminal Court due to the allegation of attempted looting. Murat Çeçen's lawyer rejected C.D.'s allegations, stating that there was no presence of weapons at any stage of the meeting, and said, 'While we absolutely do not accept the audio recording, the statements in the audio recording never carry the nature or purpose of a threat. Since the elements of the crime have not been formed, we request the acquittal of our client.' The court decided to have an expert examination conducted to determine whether the person in the audio recording is Murat Çeçen.

Regarding the audio recording, Murat Çeçen's lawyers argued that it was obtained unlawfully and created for the purpose of fabricating a crime, stating, "Let the audio recordings be listened to. While some of the expressions are slang, they are ordinary statements, and the complainant is trying to provoke them. 'Kill, finish,' it is always C.D. who initiates these. That is why a decision of non-prosecution was issued and finalized. We request his acquittal." Meanwhile, C.D.'s lawyer, Abdullah Kaya, spoke as follows after relaying some of the expressions in the recording:

"These are words that are called very simple. They are beyond slang. The crime here is directly the crime of extortion. Issue a decision of lack of jurisdiction and send it to the High Criminal Court. If you do not accept this, his additional statement must be taken regarding the crimes of armed threat and extortion."

At the end of the hearing, Murat Çeçen's lawyers requested that he be heard via a rogatory commission, stating that although his address in MERNIS appears to be in Ankara, he has physically resided in Istanbul for 2 years, and they added that they would provide his address later. C.D.'s lawyer, Abdullah Kaya, requested that an expert determine whether the audio recording belonged to Murat Çeçen.

The court decided that if his address is outside Ankara, Murat Çeçen should be heard via SEGBIS; furthermore, in order to determine whether the voice belongs to Murat Çeçen, a letter should be written to the police to have him repeat the expressions mentioned in the recording to obtain a voice sample, and that this should be sent to an expert after the recording is received. The court decided to evaluate the requests regarding hearing witnesses and the lack of jurisdiction after these steps and adjourned the hearing to February 27.

VOICE SAMPLE COULD NOT BE TAKEN, HE COULD NOT ATTEND THE HEARING, THE JUDGE WENT ON LEAVE

What happened before the second hearing?

Fifteen days after the first hearing, Murat Çeçen's lawyers submitted a petition to the court requesting that a writ be issued for Çeçen's statement to be taken via a rogatory commission from a hotel address in Istanbul they provided, rather than via SEGBIS. They also requested that the decision to obtain a voice sample be abandoned to "prevent the trial from being dragged out," noting that while they have no objections to the content of the audio recordings, which they argue should not be credited as they were obtained unlawfully, they wish to avoid delays.

Meanwhile, the following report, prepared on February 19 by the police officers assigned to take Murat Çeçen's voice sample, was entered into the court file:

"Our system records show that the line numbered ..... used by Murat Çeçen was called from our police station line numbered 0312 .....; during the conversation with the person who answered the phone and identified themselves as Murat Çeçen's secretary, they stated that the individual was currently out of the city and that they would direct the call upon his return. The document was held for a reasonable period, and after some time, it was called again, and it was learned that Murat Çeçen's lawyer was handling the matter. The line numbered ....., which was learned to be used by the lawyer, was called from our police station's landline; during the conversation, the lawyer informed us that his client, Murat Çeçen, is generally in Istanbul for business, that they had provided the ...... Hotel as his residence to the court regarding this, and that he conducts his business and procedures with the Üsküdar District Police Department, and that he would have a 'return without action' letter written regarding this. However, the 'return without action' letter has not reached us to date. We went to the address specified in the document for the individual, knocked on the door in accordance with procedure, but no one opened the door. Since the individual could not be reached via the address and contact information provided, this report has been prepared and signed by us, stating that a voice recording could not be obtained."

As for the hearing on February 27;

Prior to this, his lawyers submitted an excuse petition, attaching his flight ticket, stating that Murat Çeçen was abroad and therefore could not attend the hearing via SEGBİS. The lawyers also reiterated their requests for the court to abandon the decisions to have him heard via SEGBİS and to obtain a voice sample.

At the time of the hearing, only C.D.'s lawyer, Abdullah Kaya, arrived at the court. However, the court clerk stated that the judge was on leave, and therefore the hearing would not be held and a new date would be set. Upon the insistence of Atty. Kaya, the temporary judge drew up an 8-point report as if the hearing had been held in the court clerk's office and the prosecutor's opinion had been taken, and adjourned the case until April.

Hopefully, Alican will have regained his freedom by then and will be able to watch and write about this hearing in person.