Breaking News... Prison sentences for former TÜSİAD Presidents Orhan Turan and Ömer Aras

Former TÜSİAD President Orhan Turan and TÜSİAD High Advisory Council President Ömer Aras were on trial on charges of "publicly disseminating misleading information" and "attempting to influence a fair trial" due to statements they made during their speeches at the association's general assembly held on February 13.

In the final hearing of the case held today at the Istanbul 28th Criminal Court of First Instance, the court acquitted both defendants of the charge of "attempting to influence a fair trial," while sentencing them to 1 year, 3 months, and 18 days in prison for "publicly disseminating misleading information." The announcement of the verdict was deferred.

PROSECUTOR REITERATED FINAL OPINION AT THE HEARING

At the beginning of the hearing, the prosecutor reiterated the final opinion on the merits submitted in the previous hearing and requested that Turan and Aras be punished.

DEFENSE FROM ÖMER ARAS: “THE SPEECH WAS MADE WITH GOOD INTENTIONS”

TÜSİAD High Advisory Council President Ömer Aras rejected the accusations in his defense. Stating that his speeches were about economic development, Aras said, “My speech was made entirely with good intentions. My 20-minute speech has been taken out of context. The speech addresses current issues without naming names. It is not meaningful to manufacture a crime from this.” Furthermore, stating that the publication of his speech on the TÜSİAD website could not be considered a separate crime, Aras said, “This is the first time in my 72 years of life that I have appeared in court. I do not accept that a speech made for the development of the country is portrayed as a crime.”

The court announced its decision regarding Orhan Turan and Ömer Aras. While both defendants were acquitted of the charge of “attempting to influence a fair trial,” they received a prison sentence of 1 year, 3 months, and 18 days for the charge of "publicly disseminating misleading information." The court deferred the announcement of the verdict.

The case was initiated following the speeches made by Orhan Turan and Ömer Aras at the TÜSİAD general assembly on February 13. The two individuals made certain claims in their speeches, and an investigation was launched on the grounds that these claims could influence the judiciary. In previous hearings, the court had requested that the speeches of both defendants be sent to an expert for transcription. Additionally, in previous hearings, the lawyers for Turan and Aras had requested time to prepare a defense due to new evidence being added to the file.

The accusations against the former TÜSİAD executives were related to specific statements in their speeches. According to the allegations, Turan and Aras had included misleading information for the public and attempted to influence a fair trial. However, while the court reached a verdict of acquittal on the charge of influencing a fair trial, it imposed a prison sentence regarding the dissemination of information containing inaccuracies.

News Source: 12punto