Detained defendant Murat Kapki: They told me 'talk and get out,' I said 'yes' to everything but they didn't release me

Kapki stated, "On the day the prosecutor told me 'talk and get out,' I thought I would be released from there. Everything in that statement of mine is fabricated. Whatever the prosecutor asked me, I gave answers like 'yes, that is so, it is true,' even adding my own interpretations, thinking I would be released shortly. They told me 'talk and get out,' I said 'yes' to everything but they didn't release me. Now they are accusing both me and others with those statements; I reject them all. Everything I am explaining here right now is true. I am neither a confessor, nor effective, nor regretful. But I have had enough of being deceived."

In the assessment made in the indictment regarding Murat Kapki, it was stated that upon the criminal organization's seizure of the IMM, it was made to appear that he was a partner in the firms named BVA Reklam and Advercity, which were established by the organization leader Ekrem İmamoğlu through organization member Hüseyin Köksal, for the purpose of gaining unfair profit from outdoor advertising spaces. The indictment also stated that Kapki acted together with Murat Ongun and became wealthy thanks to the system established by the criminal organization in the field of advertising. It was stated in the indictment that Murat Kapki supported the detained defendant Murat Ongun in the management of the firms titled Medya A.Ş. and Kültür A.Ş., which are IMM subsidiaries, and that tenders were irregularly awarded to firms he owned or was an unofficial partner in. On the other hand, while Murat Kapki gave an effective remorse statement during the investigation phase, he later renounced this statement with a petition he submitted to the court, saying, "I gave certain statements so that the prosecutors would understand that I am not a member of the organization and to protect my family."

"It is claimed that I established the company on the instructions of Ekrem İmamoğlu; it has nothing to do with reality"

Against the accusations in the indictment, defendant Kapki said, "I have been detained for 15 months. During these 15 months, they portrayed me as someone completely different from who I am. They tried to present me as a criminal. I have been in the advertising sector for 23 years. Since I am now 52 years old, I wanted to establish a new company and transition to a corporate structure; I established BVA for this. I have known Hüseyin Köksal for 25 to 30 years. One day he came to me, we were sitting. He said he wanted to do something independent, separate from the family business, and that he was looking at many sectors. I explained the advertising sector to him. 20 percent was to be mine, 80 percent was to be Hüseyin's. Because he would provide the financial income. And I would show my skill in the advertising sector. The establishment process of BVA is like this. Why did I explain this? Because it is claimed in the indictment that I established this company on the instructions of Ekrem İmamoğlu. This has nothing to do with reality."

"I was never the side receiving money from the municipality, I was the side paying money"

Kapki said, "After 2021, our profitability started to increase. But there is no extraordinary profitability as claimed in the indictment. This story of extraordinary profitability is a lie from beginning to end. But all the accusations are built upon this. We are not a company that receives money from the municipality or Kültür AŞ; we are the side that pays money. I was never the side that received money from the municipality, I was the side that paid money to the municipality. It is said that I rigged tenders and committed fraud causing public loss in the actions. The tenders that are alleged to have been rigged are not the tenders we received. The tenders we received from Kültür AŞ are sub-tenders. The main tender is the one conducted by the IMM and won by Kültür AŞ. We are not even a participant in the main tender. How can I rig a tender I did not participate in? I do not understand this either."

"According to the indictment, Murat Ongun is my manager; we do not like each other"

Kapki continued, "They are now trying to reflect the entire amount of the tender as public loss to us according to the indictment. What are we going to defraud the municipality with? We acted in accordance with the specifications, we paid our debts on time. I would understand if we used the place we received as an advertising unit for another purpose, but we used it in accordance with the specifications, we did not cheat, we made our payments. I used the place I received for advertising purposes as an advertising space, I paid the stated amounts, and I did not use more space. What did I defraud the state of? My presence in the advertising sector is shown as if it started with Ekrem İmamoğlu. However, I am a person who bought and sold advertising spaces from the IMM even before Ekrem İmamoğlu. All of these tenders have been audited by the Court of Accounts and no irregularities have been detected. I am not a member of an organization. I am not even aware of the existence of such an organization. None of the goals attributed to the organization in the indictment are my goals. I never went to the places where it is said that secret meetings were held in the indictment. I did not hold secret meetings with anyone, I did not take money to anyone. According to the diagram in the indictment, Murat Ongun is my manager; in truth, we do not like each other at all. Let alone holding a secret meeting with Murat Ongun, I cannot even get an appointment. You will not find anyone who would believe that Murat Ongun and I are in the same organization, or that there is a mutual interest between us. Everyone in the market knew that our relationship was bad."

"I did not give an effective remorse statement"

In his defense, Murat Kapki said, "I want you to examine the statement I gave on June 24 carefully. Almost all effective remorse statements in the file start with the sentence 'I want to benefit from effective remorse.' The prosecutor asked me, 'Do you want to benefit from effective remorse?' I said 'no.' He said 'Okay.' We wrote our statement, we wrote it. At the very end, he said to me, 'If a crime attributed to you emerges in the future, would you want to benefit from effective remorse then?' I said I didn't want to, but he said, 'this could be a good thing for you in the future.' I asked my lawyer, and he said, 'you can write it.' We wrote it there like that. So, actually, if you look at my statements, I did not give an effective remorse statement."

Kapki said that Mücahit Birinci asked him for money while he was in prison

Murat Kapki said that on July 31, former AK Party MKYK member and lawyer Mücahit Birinci came to the prison to meet with him, stating, "He told me that I needed to give 2 million dollars and that I needed to sign the documents he brought with him. I did not know Mücahit Birinci. Another lawyer came to me before, he talked about how powerful Mücahit Birinci was. He said he could get me out. I said 'Okay' if he could get me out. He said he wanted 2.5 million dollars, I said I could give 2 million dollars. However, I said that I would not sign any documents if he wanted any statement or anything. The notary came, I gave power of attorney. I refused to sign the documents they told me I needed to sign. I said, 'I can't get out just by giving money, right Mr. Mücahit?' He said 'No.' I told him I didn't want to sign anything and that if he could get me out with money, he should do it. In the documents he wanted me to sign, they had written that I witnessed things I never knew, heard, or saw regarding Ekrem Bey, Murat Ongun, and Özgür Özel, and that Hüseyin told me these things. He tried to make me sign these. I told him I would not slander anyone. I dismissed him later."

"I am neither a confessor, nor effective, nor regretful"

Murat Kapki said, "On the day the prosecutor told me 'talk and get out,' I thought I would be released from there. Everything in that statement of mine is fabricated. Whatever the prosecutor asked me, I gave answers like 'yes, that is so, it is true,' even adding my own interpretations, thinking I would be released shortly. Then these were written into the record. I answered the allegations against me, they didn't take them seriously. They said 'talk and get out,' I said 'yes' to everything but they didn't release me. Now they are accusing both me and others with those statements; I reject them all. Everything I am explaining here right now is true. I am neither a confessor, nor effective, nor regretful. But I have had enough of being deceived. That is why I am making such a long defense. My statements in this hearing are true and correct. The statements taken under the name of additional statements are a result of the moral pressure created by detention, my illnesses, the fear of something happening to my family, the prosecutor's promises such as 'if you tell us something, it will be in your favor,' and my reflex to stand by the prosecutors due to my life experience so far. There is not a single lie in what I said here today, but the indictment is full of lies. The prosecutor even wanted me to have it written in my statement that 'Ekrem İmamoğlu used the income he obtained through these tenders as a fund to become President and to realize his other political goals.' I objected to this, I did not have it written. That is why I can guess under what conditions and for what purpose the statements against me were given."

The presiding judge told Ekrem İmamoğlu, who raised his voice during the cross-examination of defendant Murat Kapki, 'this is not your rally area.' Following the tension, the hearing was adjourned to Monday, May 18.

News Source: 12punto