Businessman Adem Soytekin, who benefited from 'effective remorse,' re-arrested: Statements found inconsistent

Investigations are ongoing into individuals, including İBB Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, on allegations of "being a leader of a criminal organization," "being a member of a criminal organization," "extortion," "bribery," "qualified fraud," "unlawful acquisition of personal data," and "rigging a tender."

Adem Soytekin, Chairman of the Board of ASOY Construction, who was arrested as part of the investigation and provided testimony under 'effective remorse,' had been released.

Stating that they found Soytekin's statements to be "inconsistent," the prosecutor's office requested his re-arrest on charges of "Establishing an Organization for the Purpose of Committing Crimes." Soytekin was re-arrested and sent to prison. Among those arrested following the 'effective remorse' testimony provided by Soytekin is İmamoğlu's lawyer, Mehmet Pehlivan.

According to the report by Can Öztürk from T24, the prosecutor's office used the following statements in its request:

"It has been determined through concrete evidence in law enforcement and police investigations conducted after the suspect's statements that a number of the suspect's declarations were contrary to the truth; it has been established through these findings that in his statements under the scope of effective remorse, the suspect described himself and his role in the actions by keeping himself separate from the file; although he contributed to the investigation file by submitting certain information and documents to the prosecutor's office, some statements and documents contained inconsistencies; he was in an effort to isolate himself from the organization; he attempted to portray himself as if he were unaware of the accusations regarding the actions and his mediation in the procurement of bribes for those actions, and as if he had taken over certain apartments subject to the crimes and actions only after being told they would be transferred to him; he was also involved in concealing criminal proceeds and the source of his assets; therefore, it is understood that the suspect did not provide sincere statements that would benefit the institution of effective remorse,"

In his testimony under 'effective remorse,' Soytekin had claimed that immediately after a seizure order was placed on his assets on March 7, 2025, he called lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan, and that on the evening of the same day, they met at the office with Fatih Keleş, Tuncay Yılmaz, Turan Taşkın Özer, Hüseyin Köksal, and İbrahim Bülbüllü under the leadership of Mehmet Pehlivan.

Soytekin had alleged that in his speech, Mehmet Pehlivan determined what would be said in the statements and advised that if municipal bureaucrats were arrested, financial aid would be provided to all of them, and that they should claim the operation was political.

CALL FOR FREEDOM FOR MEHMET PEHLİVAN

Following the finding that Soytekin's statements were "inconsistent" and the decision for his re-arrest, a call for freedom for İmamoğlu's imprisoned lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan came from CHP's Murat Emir:

"Ekrem İmamoğlu’s lawyer, Mehmet Pehlivan, must be released immediately! The slanderer Adem Soytekin, who had him arrested with false statements, has been re-arrested. Moreover, the prosecutor's office itself, which prepared the file that sent Pehlivan to prison, has admitted that these statements do not align with the truth. A lawyer was imprisoned with lies for defending his client. Mehmet Pehlivan’s place is in court next to his client. He must be released immediately!"

News Source: 12punto