First hearing in 'money counting' case held today: CHP officials also attended

The first hearing of the case regarding the 'money counting' footage recorded at the CHP Istanbul Provincial Headquarters is being held at the Çağlayan Courthouse. The hearing was moved to the 22nd High Criminal Court due to the small size of the courtroom.

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First hearing in 'money counting' case held today: CHP officials also attended

The first hearing of the case regarding the "money counting" footage, which was allegedly recorded at the CHP Istanbul Provincial Headquarters, began today at the 59th Criminal Court of First Instance.

However, due to the small size of the courtroom, the hearing was moved to the 22nd High Criminal Court. Among the 22 defendants on trial, Can Poyraz, Onur Öksel, and Melih Morsünbül were present, while former CHP Provincial Chair Canan Kaftancıoğlu did not attend, having submitted an excuse.

CHP OFFICIALS ATTENDED THE HEARING

CHP Istanbul Provincial Chair Özgür Çelik and numerous party members were present in the courtroom to show their support.

Because the courtroom was largely filled by party members, only a small number of the journalists waiting at the door were able to enter.

WHAT IS IN THE INDICTMENT?

The indictment prepared by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office requests that 22 defendants—including former Maltepe Mayor Ali Kılıç, his advisor Melih Morsünbül, former Şişli Mayor Muammer Keskin, former CHP Istanbul Provincial Chair Canan Kaftancıoğlu, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Sports Club President Fatih Keleş, former CHP Istanbul Provincial Deputy Chair Özgür Nas, former press advisor Mustafa Can Poyraz, and İmamoğlu Construction Company General Manager Tuncay Yılmaz—be tried with prison sentences ranging from 6 months to 1 year under the article of the Law on Political Parties regarding "receiving or giving illegal donations, loans, or debts."

THEY WANT TO HARM A 100-YEAR-OLD PARTY

Lawyer Baran Kaya stated that the accusations in the case were fabricated during the investigation phase and that both the investigation and the indictment were unlawful.

Lawyer Ahmet Özdemir said, "The indictment does not write anything about those who made the donations. It was either written incompletely or the prosecutor misread it. It does not say 'donations cannot be made,' it says 'donations cannot be accepted.' Whether a receipt is given or not is the party's problem. If a donation of 55,000 TL or more is made with the money of that day, then the person's responsibility begins. The CHP posted an announcement on its own website that a provincial headquarters would be purchased and stated that donations would be collected. The defendants collected money on behalf of the party and delivered it to the necessary people. The defendants are the people responsible for delivering the money. They are trying to make the file look crowded with this number of defendants. They want to harm a 100-year-old party. The case is both flawed and political. At first, they tried to make it look like this money was Mayor İmamoğlu's money. Documents that could be in the defendants' favor were not put into the file. The incident was dumped on 22 people. 6 of the defendants are just the people who carried the money. The others are the people in charge of the process," he stated.

Özdemir added, "A decision of 'no grounds for prosecution' was made regarding those who sold these real estates. However, witness statements were included in the indictment. Which witness statements? Who are the witnesses? At the end of the MASAK report, it is stated that no records related to a crime were found. Most of the documents put into the file have nothing to do with the defendants on trial."

Lawyer Mehmet Öksel said, "As lawyers, we have a request that the investigation was initiated with unlawful evidence. In such cases, even a confession is unlawful. The claim that the defendants were aware that the footage was being recorded does not reflect the truth and is based on the statement of a single witness."