ABK Case: Report to impact the 'found phone'

Müyesser Yıldız - 12punto.com.tr

The Gendarmerie Cyber Crimes Department has submitted its report regarding two phones created by a defense attorney to prove that the "found phone"—allegedly belonging to secret witness M7 Serdar Sertçelik and left in front of the office of the lawyer for police chief Şevket Demircan, who conducted the operation—could have been created and manipulated later. The case, involving 76 defendants, is being retried following a partial reversal by the appellate court. The report concluded that there was no manipulation in either the original phone or the second phone created by manipulating the correspondence found within it. Continuing his defense, Bora Kaplan claimed that the police officers who conducted the operation aimed to "go after" politicians and members of the judiciary such as Süleyman Soylu, Yüksel Kocaman, and Sadık Soylu through him.

At the beginning of today's session of the trial, held by the Ankara 32nd High Criminal Court at the Sincan Prison complex, the presiding judge announced that the expert report regarding the phones submitted to the court by defense attorney Duran Göçer—who had argued in April hearings that the correspondence on the found phone was fabricated—had arrived. It was noted that the 83-page report, the main points of which were summarized by the presiding judge, stated that "no manipulation could be detected" for either phone. The report also concluded that there was "no manipulation" in the examination of the image of the found phone allegedly belonging to Serdar Sertçelik. Attorney Duran Göçer stated that this meant his claims that the WhatsApp correspondence on the found phone was fabricated were confirmed, and that this phone should now be considered suspicious evidence.

NAMES TARGETED BY THE POLICE

Continuing the defense he began yesterday regarding the main case in which he faces 68 years in prison, Bora Kaplan again accused the police officers who conducted the operation, the investigating prosecutor, and the former presiding judge Mehmet Güven. He read WhatsApp messages between these individuals and explained the following:

"Deputy Police Chief Murat Çelik wrote to KOM Branch Deputy Director Şevket Demircan on September 16, 2023, regarding Mahmut Çorumlu (Head of the EGP KOM Department during the Süleyman Soylu era, later Deputy Director General of Security), saying, 'The man is probably a FETÖ member, they hid him by sending him to Menzil.' He uses profanity for the former Ankara Police Chief. There are hundreds of such messages. They are investigating Yüksel Kocaman. It is understood that they targeted him from the very beginning. To reach their goals, they first tried to assassinate the reputations of members of the judiciary and seize the powers of judges and prosecutors for themselves. Now, they have created those WhatsApp messages to save themselves. They have gone beyond me and shown hostility toward my lawyers. There is no limit to this hostility. They are searching for old information about Süleyman Soylu and Sadık Soylu. The goal is, 'Let's go after others through Bora Kaplan.' It is obvious what they made Serdar Sertçelik say as a secret witness. Think about what they could have done if I had accepted. This investigation is not a normal investigation. As the saying goes, 'the fish rots from the head,' and prosecutor Mustafa Kaya paved the way for these illegalities."

Stating that it has emerged from the conversations between former KOM branch deputy director Şevket Demircan and secret witness M7 Serdar Sertçelik after fleeing abroad that they tried to create two different secret witnesses from Sertçelik just so they would not be convicted, Bora Kaplan explained that even though the identity of secret witness Ü5 was revealed and he explained how he was made a secret witness by the police, his statements were still used as the basis for the verdict. He accused the former presiding judge of "becoming buddies with the police just because they were going to give him a car." While requesting that Ü5 be heard, Kaplan said, "For the sake of God, call him, let him come. He has given 50 statements, the prosecutor called him. Why don't you call him? They have worn us out."

WAS FILMING DONE?

Before starting his defense after the break, Bora Kaplan told the presiding judge:

"The relatives of Murat Çelik, who are sitting in the back, filmed me while I was making my defense. A report was filed, but I am telling you this because: tomorrow they will publish it and claim that I had it filmed, and they will blame it on us, just so you know."

News Source: Müyesser Yıldız