Second 'confessor' case in the Ayhan Bora Kaplan trial!

Müyesser YILDIZ 12punto.com.tr

The trial of the Ayhan Bora Kaplan criminal organization, involving 61 defendants, 17 of whom are in custody, continued.

In today's session of the trial held at the Ankara 32nd High Criminal Court, the defendants and their lawyers presented their defenses against the prosecutor's opinion on the merits.

Cemil Kumaşçıoğlu, a defendant who is being tried without arrest in the organization case but is in custody in the money laundering case, stated that he could not be released from the other case because this one had not concluded, saying, “The prosecutor should reconsider their request regarding me. Since I cannot ask you for release either, I only want justice.”

Noting that he is being tried in this case due to the claim by secret witness Ü5 that “Cemil Kumaşçıoğlu operates the 'Alaçatı Kafası' on behalf of Bora Kaplan,” Kumaşçıoğlu said the following:

“This venue belongs to me on paper and officially, but I cannot explain it. Let's assume I accepted that it belongs to Bora Kaplan, not me; if operating a business is a crime, shouldn't the operators of other venues belonging to Bora Kaplan also be members of the organization? Is there anything illegal, a crime, in this venue? I didn't even sell bootleg alcohol.”

Defendant Ersoy Yahya also claimed that he was added to the indictment without being detained or questioned, based solely on a four-line statement from Ü5 saying “I heard,” and asked, “If Ü5's four lines are put into the indictment without any investigation, why is it not taken into account that Ü5 retracted their statement?” Yahya continued as follows:

“I wish I hadn't been the owner of these venues; I've been through everything. I might go down in history for being convicted because I bought a shop. I got rid of many things, debts, the pandemic; but I couldn't get rid of the Police's perception of 'Bora Kaplan's venues.' I didn't even have a social association with Bora Kaplan, let alone a money exchange.”

Mahmut Gökhan Çanga, a former lawyer and one of the detained defendants held responsible for the killing of Semih Arslan following the Mahfuz Tatar murder, explained that all reports indicate Arslan committed suicide. Drawing attention to a message the prosecutor wrote on WhatsApp to Commissioner Ufuk Gültekin during the detention process, which read, “If the expert says, 'the probability of suicide is low,' arrest becomes easier,” he said, “What a coincidence; the expert gives a report 24 hours later saying 'the probability of suicide is low.'”

TWO PETITIONS, ONE LETTER

Sercan Keleş, the other defendant held responsible for the death of Semih Arslan, summarized his defense as follows:

“The reason I am in this file is fate/accident. I am accused of killing my friend. I am being tried with an aggravated life sentence for a crime I did not commit. Because I am in a situation thinner than a hair and sharper than a sword, I had to write such a letter. I think Semih saw Mahfuz Tatar's swearing as an opportunity to prove himself, but because he couldn't calculate that Tatar would die, he fell into psychological distress, and because he didn't want to go to prison, he committed suicide. If we had the intention to kill, we wouldn't have killed him there and thrown him down. We had time; we could have taken him and buried him elsewhere. He was both a fugitive and his family didn't know his whereabouts. We may have been involved in crime in the past. We are not lily-white; but we are being tried for a crime we did not commit. Why would we kill our friend? Actually, there is a lot to say, but when we come here, our tongues get tied.”

As Sercan Keleş finished his defense and returned to his seat, the Presiding Judge said, “Wait, don't go,” and announced that Keleş had sent two petitions and a letter from prison, saying the following:

“In the petition you sent on October 21, you said, 'I don't feel comfortable in the hearing. Accept me into your presence and listen to me, and I want to benefit from effective remorse.' In the petition on October 31, you stated that you were not called into the presence and that you were being tried in a file prepared within the scope of lies and slander. After the hearing last week on November 11, we went from here to the Courthouse. You had a letter that came by mail. This time, you asked for your letter not to be included in the file until the day of the hearing. Now I am reading it and putting it in the file. You said; 'I want to tell everything. If I have a crime, I want to serve my sentence and benefit from effective remorse. I wrote the second petition due to the pressure on my family. That should not be taken into account. I don't want to go back and forth with these people and be put in the same detention cell. I want protection measures to be taken for me and my family.'”

Following these statements, the Judge asked, “Will you make a statement within the scope of effective remorse? Do you have anything to tell?”

Sercan Keleş replied, “No, I don't.”

The Presiding Judge had previously announced in the hearing that defendant Fethi Koyuncu had also submitted a petition for effective remorse, and later said that the gendarmerie had kept a record that Bora Kaplan had threatened Koyuncu in the detention cell, saying, “I will kill your mother.”

GANGS ARE SITTING FOR NOTHING

In the afternoon part of the hearing, Fethi Koyuncu also presented his defense. Denying all accusations against him, Koyuncu spoke as follows:

“There is not a single piece of evidence that I can try to refute. It is stated that I am held responsible for all accusations because I am an organization manager. I worked as a valet in front of the venues. What kind of manager am I that I pull cars until the morning, and the owners of those venues become my members? How am I an organization manager? If management is something like this, all gangs are sitting for nothing. I can't even pay a lawyer's fee, how am I a manager? If I am a manager, shame on this organization and shame on me.”

Following Koyuncu's defense, the Presiding Judge announced that defendant Muhammet Kaplan had sent a petition to be put in the file without being read, and said, “We don't have any secret business. There is no confidentiality like in the investigation. That's why we will read it.”

Fethi Koyuncu's lawyer, Uğur Ulutaş, also criticized the prosecutor's opinion that fugitive secret witness M7, coded Serdar Sertçelik, should “benefit from effective remorse even if he cannot be considered a secret witness,” saying, “Since M7's statement is null and void, it cannot be evaluated within the scope of effective remorse. We believe that Ü5's statements will not be taken as the basis for the verdict either.”

BORA KAPLAN REQUESTED TIME

As of 15:00, after 11 defendants and 6 lawyers presented their defenses, the Presiding Judge asked the defendants in alphabetical order whether they would present their defenses. Barış Kurt stated that he could not finish his defense and could do it on Thursday. Bora Kaplan said the following:

“There are 80 folders. Meanwhile, my MASAK case was heard. My lawyers were going to request time, but you didn't give them the floor.”

The Judge intervened and asked, “When will you be ready?” Kaplan continued as follows:

“I don't have the opportunity to finish my defense. As you can see, I am working on the file in the hearing as well. I will prepare for as long as the court gives me time. Because I am being tried as the leader of the organization and I am held responsible for all crimes. I need to look at the files full of slander by the law enforcement and the prosecutor down to the finest detail. For that, I am working like a law student, a jurist. I request that additional time be granted.”

İbrahim Kama, the lawyer for defendant Tansel Aktan, also reacted to the prosecutor's request that the statements of secret witnesses M7 and Ü5 be taken as the basis for the verdict, reminding that it had emerged that these statements were taken within the scope of prohibited interrogation and that a lawsuit had been filed against the police officers.

After the lawyers for defendants Cemil Kumaşçıoğlu, Mümin Ali Beldek, and Ferit Çelik also presented their defenses, today's session was adjourned to continue tomorrow.

News Source: 12punto

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