Dilek İmamoğlu's outcry to politicians for 'remaining unresponsive': We are struggling

YENİ Party Deputy Chairman Yaşar Tüzün also attended the meeting, which was held following a recess in the İBB case.

Dilek Kaya İmamoğlu, wife of İBB President Ekrem İmamoğlu, reacted to the sentences handed down in the Aziz İhsan Aktaş case, stating the following:

“The decisions made clearly reveal that we are facing a process conducted with the mindset of ‘slander and get acquitted.’ The same injustices are being experienced in the İBB case. Hundreds of people have been made defendants with an indictment based solely on statements. People were kept in detention for months without even an indictment being prepared against them, and they waited in prison for the indictment to be drafted. The presumption of innocence was ignored. People were punished in advance before the trial even began. Today, 53 people are still being punished while in detention. 8 people are being held under house arrest. On one side, there are those who have regained their freedom thanks to the false statements they provided, and on the other, there are people who have been deprived of their freedom for months because of these false statements. The right of these people, who are punished in advance, to question these false statements and reveal the contradictions is also being blocked.

“Defense rights were blocked”

Then I ask: If people who have been imprisoned based on these slanders, against whom there is not a single concrete piece of evidence regarding the crimes attributed to them, cannot ask questions, and if they cannot refute the slanders cast upon them, how will the truth come to light? The defense rights of Ekrem İmamoğlu, the presidential candidate for millions, and his lawyers were also blocked. It is not even clear when Ekrem İmamoğlu will be allowed to present his defense. So, can justice emerge from a trial where the right to defense is blocked, and where the questioning of false statements and the revealing of contradictions are not permitted? Can such an approach be reconciled with law and justice? Today, Turkey is facing judicial practices that should never occur in a state governed by the rule of law.

"You have also kept their families under threat for 17 months"

In what other state governed by the rule of law have hearings that continue until late at night been seen? Why this rush? What and what date is the trial trying to be finished for? In what other state governed by the rule of law has a trial been conducted in a courtroom where lawyers and defendants are kept so far apart from each other?

This case, which we demanded be broadcast live on television, is now expected to be heard almost without lawyers, without the defendants being brought to the courtroom, without families being able to watch, and without the press being able to follow it.

As if it were not enough that you imprisoned our loved ones with a dawn raid in an unfair and unlawful manner without a single piece of concrete evidence, you have also kept the families left outside under threat for 17 months. We are aware that every step we take is being followed. If you could, you wouldn't even leave us a space to breathe. Let it be known very well that these immoral practices and attacks that violate the privacy of private life will never intimidate us. On the contrary, they will further strengthen our solidarity and our determination to struggle. We are struggling to understand those who ignore these practices that do not conform to humanity, our political culture, our social traditions, or the conscientious and moral values that hold us together.

"The nation's elected representatives are here, in Silivri"

Remaining silent in the face of injustice, turning one's back on the grievances experienced, and ignoring people's pain and their search for rights is incompatible not only with social responsibility but also with the understanding of justice, compassion, conscience, and the rights of others that our faith teaches us. Because in our faith, justice is a fundamental value that must be defended not only for ourselves but for everyone.

Speaking out against injustice and respecting the rights of others is the conscientious and moral responsibility of us all. We are struggling to understand why politicians, who have taken on responsibility on behalf of society, remain unresponsive to these injustices. Politics is not just about holding office and authority; it is the responsibility to take a stand for justice, law, and human dignity in difficult times. Politics is done for the nation.

We are here. The nation's elected representatives are here, in Silivri. We invite the nation's representatives to stand up for justice. We have always said it, and we will continue to say it. This issue is not just the issue of Ekrem İmamoğlu, his companions, and their families; it is the common issue of 86 million. Rights, law, and justice are everyone's business.”

News Source: 12punto