What happened in the 6-day Newborn Gang trial: Who said what, and who did they blame?

An interim decision has been announced in the trial of the baby-killing 'Newborn Gang,' in which 47 defendants, 22 of whom are in custody, are being tried for transferring emergency newborn patients to neonatal units of private hospitals they had pre-arranged, causing their deaths and generating illicit profits.

In the first hearing, which lasted 6 days, it was decided that the 22 detained defendants would remain in custody, and the trial will continue on Tuesday, November 26, with the defense of the non-detained defendants.

During the first hearing, where the 22 detainees presented their defense, striking confessions emerged, and the defendants blamed one another. So, what happened during the first hearing of the Newborn Gang trial, which lasted a total of 6 days, who said what, and who did they blame? Here are the details...

THE FIRST DAY OF THE TRIAL

The trial in the Newborn Gang investigation began on Monday.

According to NTV, the first day of the hearing, which started late due to the intensity and tension at the courthouse, began with identity verification.

Doctor Fırat Sarı and İlker Gönen, named as the leaders and managers of the gang in the 1,399-page indictment, as well as Gıyasettin Mert Özdemir, a member of the gang in the 112 emergency call center and an ambulance driver, were also brought to the hearing.

During identity verification, Fırat Sarı stated that his monthly income was 400 thousand liras.

Defendants held in Çorlu provided their identity statements via video conference.

CHILLING DETAIL IN THE INSPECTOR'S REPORT

The Ministry of Health's inspector report stated that passive euthanasia was applied to some of the babies, meaning they were left to die without any treatment method being applied.

It was determined that when a nurse informed a doctor that a baby's heart had stopped in the intensive care unit, the doctor replied, "There is no need for resuscitation."

'KURTLAR VADİSİ' DIALOGUE ON THE SECOND DAY OF THE TRIAL

The second day of the Newborn Gang trial witnessed striking confessions.

One of the defendants, nurse Hasan Basri Gök, presented his defense.

Regarding his words reflected in the wiretaps, he said, "It is an ugly sentence. The baby's heart was constantly stopping and being brought back, that's why I spoke like that."

Testifying at the Bakırköy 22nd High Criminal Court, Gök described the dark side of the gang.

"It is not possible to transfer a healthy baby. Because they were kept waiting for a very long time, their lungs were also deteriorating. They were intubated and sent," Gök confessed, adding, "Serdar Yüksel was transferring babies and receiving money in return. Fırat Sarı told me to send the money, and I did. They were receiving excess money from the Social Security Institution (SGK). Hospitalizations were extended for this reason."

Gök stated, "All nurses were given money for helping with epicrisis reports. No one was doing anything for charity."

"THAT LINE WAS A KURTLAR VADİSİ QUOTE"

A 'Kurtlar Vadisi' (Valley of the Wolves) dialogue also took place during the hearing.

When nurse Deniz Korkmaz was reminded of the sentence, "Robbing the state is more honorable than robbing the nation," he said he took the line from the TV series 'Kurtlar Vadisi'.

"The hospital saw patients like goods to be sold and used them only to get money," said Korkmaz. "It was inevitable for people with this mentality to do these things. They were trying to save on materials during the intensive care processes of the patients. I reported these people to CİMER (Presidential Communication Center)."

CONFESSION OF STOCKPILING MEDICINE

Nurse Hüseyin Günerhan also made a striking confession in the trial.

Denying the claim of being an organization and defending his innocence, Günerhan said, "We stockpile leftover doses of medicine for patients whose payments are not covered, for foreign patients."

Claiming that he met Fırat Sarı while working at Reyap Hospital, Günerhan said, "My brother was also working at the Reyap Emergency Department. I started working by taking shifts at Reyap. I will not speak to protect anyone here; I will tell the truth."

THREE STRIKING CONFESSIONS ON THE THIRD DAY OF THE TRIAL

On the third day of the trial, three striking confessions came from three defendant nurses.

Defendant nurse Cansu Akyıldırım admitted to the money transfers between her and organization leader Fırat Sarı, claiming that this money was distributed to employees for motivation.

Another defendant nurse, Çağla Durmuş, explained that Fırat Sarı showed patients as intubated for financial gain.

Nurse Damla Atak confessed that Gıyasettin Mert Özdemir, a 112 Emergency Service personnel shown among the organization's managers, was transferring patients.

Then, the defense of Dr. Rıza Keykubad began. When asked about the "Pull the plug" remarks regarding the death of baby Kaya, Keykubad claimed that a game was being played on him and denied making such a statement.

Following Keykubad's defense, the lawyer for baby Kaya's family reacted to the defendant's defense, saying, "My client received her own child in a biscuit box and carried that box in her arms."

FOURTH DAY: "I WANTED TO BE MAYOR"

The fourth hearing of the trial was held on Thursday. New confessions came from the defendants.

Defendant Serdar Yüksel, one of the hospital managers in the Newborn Gang trial, confessed that he was in debt and therefore received money for the transfer of babies to hospitals.

Yüksel said, "I know the patients from those who called me from 112 or those who called saying 'We got your number from the Ministry of Health.' I received money from Gıyasettin Mert Özdemir and Fırat Sarı."

In his statement, defendant Yüksel also confessed that he sent babies to hospitals outside the province in exchange for money.

CONFESSIONS FROM THE ASSISTANT

Defendant Sümeyye Nur Arslan, the assistant of gang leader Fırat Sarı, explained that Sarı also aimed to enter the field of home care services.

Arslan said that Sarı gave her power of attorney for this and that she herself deposited the fees to the nurses.

Defendant Arslan explained: "My friends could not explain the motivation fee correctly. You are looking after 5 patients when you would normally look after 3. These become heavy after a while. The hospital does not pay enough. When you want to quit, Fırat Sarı gives you this money."

Arslan also answered the prosecutor's question, referring to defendant Fırat Sarı: "Why was someone with an income of 400 thousand liras a month asking you for money?"

Arslan said: "We couldn't make sense of it either. For example, there were times when he took money from me saying 'Don't send me to the currency exchange now' when he was going abroad. When he was arrested, he owed me 150 thousand liras."

"I WANTED TO BE MAYOR"

The defense of Renas Kılıç, an official from the Esenyurt Municipality Health Affairs, caused astonishment. Kılıç claimed that he aimed to become mayor and acted in line with his political goals.

FIFTH DAY: CONFESSIONS OF THE ORGANIZATION LEADER

On the 5th day of the Newborn Gang trial, ambulance driver Gıyasettin Mert Özdemir presented his defense regarding the transfer of babies to hospitals by going outside the 112 emergency chain.

He said he introduced himself as a doctor and received a salary of 60 thousand liras and one thousand liras per patient transfer from Fırat Sarı, who is accused of being the leader of the Newborn Gang. Confessions came one after another from 112 ambulance driver Gıyasettin Mert Özdemir.

Gıyasettin Mert Özdemir said: "Baby Kaya's mother was at risk. 112 could not find a place for her for hours. The family lost hope and looked for another way. I presented her to Ali Dirik, the chief physician of Güney Hospital. He accepted. No other hospital had accepted this patient."

Responding to the Court President's question, "What do you say about the conversation 'If the discharge time drops, our earnings drop'?", Gıyasettin Mert Özdemir said, "It was a conversation I had out of officiousness."

"I MADE AGREEMENTS WITH HOSPITALS"

Özdemir explained that he also transferred patients to adult intensive care. He also claimed that he received money from Fırat Sarı and made agreements with the managements of Bağcılar Şafak Hospital and Birinci Hospital. Özdemir said, "Every private hospital wants the intensive care unit to be full."

To the Court President's question, "112 must not be working you hard. Since you have so much time to do these things," Özdemir replied, "I cannot officially do the job I am a 112 employee for. If I hadn't worked in those hospitals, I could have done it officially. I couldn't explain these because the prosecutor insulted me while taking my statement. Is the prosecutor acting with ill intent?"

Responding to the question, "Is investigating a baby's death ill intent? If you have an accusation, you have a lawyer. You file a complaint," Özdemir claimed that he made the statement "If we report it to 112, we can't get the baby" because it took a long time for 112 to find a place.

Doctor Dursun Eryılmaz, who is accused in connection with the death of 4 babies, claimed that some babies had congenital health problems. He responded to the accusations as gossip by the nurses.

LEADER Fırat Sarı PRESENTED HIS DEFENSE ON THE SIXTH DAY

Fırat Sarı, a critical name in the Newborn Gang trial, presented his defense on the sixth day of the hearing.

Sarı, who is accused of being the leader of the gang, was asked many questions that were wondered about, such as allegations of negligence regarding baby deaths, how patient transfers were made, and who he collaborated with.

Sarı claimed that he knew his phones had been tapped since January of this year, did not accept the allegations of negligence regarding baby deaths, and explained the process regarding patient transfers.

Sarı, who is shown as the leader, said, "I no longer have any expectations or hope from life. I have no human dignity left. I want to explain everything here."

Fırat Sarı stated, "We never took patients by breaking the 112 transfer chain or by giving bribes. They send them to every hospital equally. We took them from medical centers."

Although Sarı, who faces up to 582 years in prison, claimed that there were no transfers from the 112 Emergency Call Center, he explained his cooperation with Gıyasettin Mert Özdemir, one of the detained defendants who is an ambulance driver there, and also gave other names.

Sarı continued as follows:

"Gıyasettin Mert Özdemir was transferring babies. We were paying money for this. Mert said, 'I work for the state, it's a problem for you to make payments to me.' He wanted the money to be deposited into his wife's account. Renas was working at Reyap. We would ask Renas for patient transfers, he wouldn't get involved in money matters."

Fırat Sarı claimed that he made the agreement with hospital managers and that they were aware of the process.

Sarı, who also claimed that hospital managements pressured him to increase the number of patients, was also asked about the "Pull the plug" conversation.

When Sarı said, "We were joking among ourselves, don't you do it?", the prosecutor, who reacted to Fırat Sarı, said, "Do not use us as an example."

When asked about the sold SGK medicines, Sarı blamed the defendant nurses Hakan Doğukan Taşçı and Hasan Basri Gök on this issue.

Sarı said the following:

"They ruined my life. We kept those medicines for at most 3 days. That is what they meant by 'don't increase,' but I learned later that they sold them. These friends work for minimum wage. They sold the medicines for one-tenth of the price, for 300-500 liras."

Claiming that Taşçı told him they were being tapped in January, Sarı also did not accept the allegations of negligence regarding the death of 10 babies.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN NOW IN THE TRIAL?

Following Fırat Sarı's defense, an interim decision was issued in the trial.

It was decided that the defendants will remain in custody.

The hearing will continue on Tuesday, November 26.