Defense statements postponed in Hablemitoğlu case

Müyesser Yıldız - 12punto.com.tr

In the trial regarding the assassination of academic and author Assoc. Prof. Dr. Necip Hablemitoğlu, the prosecutor requested to abandon the demand for phone records from the TRNC, which had been awaited for nearly 3 years and served as the most important basis for the claim that retired Colonel Tarkan Mumcuoğlu was the "trigger man." The court decided to stop waiting for the records in question on the grounds that they "would not add anything new to the file." The court also ruled for the continuation of the detention of Nuri Gökhan Bozkır, who was brought from Ukraine, and the judicial control measures, including the travel ban, for the other defendants, primarily Levent Göktaş.

In the session on June 27 of the long-running trial held at the Ankara 28th High Criminal Court, the prosecutor had requested that the file be submitted to the Prosecutor's Office to present the final opinion (mütalaa). 21 days later, on July 18, the prosecutor presented the opinion and requested that defendants Levent Göktaş, Tarkan Mumcuoğlu, Nuri Gökhan Bozkır, Fikret Emek, Enver Altaylı, and Aydın Köstem be sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment, and that Mehmet Narin be punished for membership in an organization.

It was expected that the defendants would begin their defense against the final opinion in today's session of the trial.

However, because the objections made by Ersan Barkın, the lawyer for the Hablemitoğlu family, and Ali Soykan, the lawyer for Levent Göktaş, regarding the "decision of non-prosecution" issued by Zafer Ergün—who both prepared the indictment and served as the prosecutor for the hearing—concerning the identification of the individuals who followed Hablemitoğlu at his conference in Eskişehir have not been concluded, the Presiding Judge stated that they would not proceed to the defense against the opinion today. He also noted, "There is still nothing we are expecting from the TRNC," and took the statements of the defendants and their lawyers regarding whether or not to stop waiting for this correspondence.

While lawyer Ersan Barkın left the discretion to the court, Prosecutor Zafer Ergün gave an opinion in favor of stopping the wait for these records, which he had made the most important evidence of his indictment, and requested that Nuri Gökhan Bozkır's detention and the judicial controls of the other defendants be continued.

The defendants, on the other hand, requested that the response from the TRNC be awaited as it is important for revealing the truth. Meanwhile, Nuri Gökhan Bozkır claimed that Prosecutor Zafer Ergün lied to the court and said, "We also made a great effort to solve this murder. It is clear that we did not do it, but I have been detained for 4.5 years."

IF HABLEMİTOĞLU ROSE FROM HIS GRAVE, WHAT WOULD THE PROSECUTOR SAY?

Levent Göktaş's lawyer, Ali Soykan, who began his remarks by saying, "Since the prosecutor has written a new indictment rather than a final opinion, we also have the right to request an expansion of the prosecution," listed the deficiencies and contradictions in the investigations conducted since 2002. He pointed out that the police officers who conducted the first investigation turned out to be "FETÖ" members, but that this issue was never addressed. Lawyer Soykan summarized his points as follows:

"There may be two reasons why the individuals who shared the same cell tower location with the late Necip Hablemitoğlu on the day of the murder and before have not been investigated, or if they were, why the results are not in the file. First, the necessary base station records to conduct this investigation do not exist; therefore, the prosecutor's request could not be fulfilled. The second and more serious possibility is that such an investigation was conducted, the real perpetrators or suspects were reached, but since the defendants, who are alleged to be a criminal organization, including my client, were not among them, this investigation was swept under the rug by certain cliques. If the investigation could not be conducted due to the lack of base station data, then the authority that issued the indictment and the opinion should be asked how the base station data was considered evidence against the defendants. Nothing is lost in the Republic of Turkey; it is only prevented from being found or made difficult. In this concrete case, it is seen that the BTK sent the list of requested stations in 2017, meaning that the phone numbers and their users that shared the same base station with Hablemitoğlu on the day of the murder and before were identified, but this work, which would solve the murder, is not in the investigation and trial file. It is the Court's duty to find this work and its results."

Renewing the request for the then-Undersecretary of the MİT, Şenkal Atasagun, to be heard as a witness, Lawyer Soykan emphasized that Prosecutor Zafer Ergün characterized this murder as an ordinary murder committed for money in the indictment, but called it a "political murder" in his final opinion, and continued as follows:

"If so, why did he only request punishment for the crime of intentional killing by design for my client, and why did he not prepare a new indictment for this new accusation? Since this is the situation, the Prosecutor should be asked to prepare a new indictment in accordance with TCK 302 and subsequent articles; if this request is not accepted, a new opinion should be requested from the Prosecutor assigned to your Court that is consistent with the existing evidence in the file, does not target the defendants and their lawyers, is limited to the law, and is in accordance with the CMK. Otherwise, even if the late Necip Hablemitoğlu, who was murdered only because of what he said and wrote, rose from his grave and attended the hearing, and said, 'Tarkan Mumcuoğlu did not fire the weapon that killed me treacherously,' we have not the slightest doubt that the Prosecutor who gave the opinion would say, 'It is impossible for him to remember 20 years ago,' and give the same opinion again."

After Lawyer Soykan completed his 9-page statement, the Presiding Judge warned, "You answered everything except the question we asked. Could you answer our question?" Lawyer Soykan also requested that the response to the letter from the TRNC be awaited. When Lawyer Soykan submitted his written statement to the Court, the Judge complained, "Why didn't you give it beforehand, you made us read so much?" Lawyer Soykan replied, "We worked on it together."

"THE ENTIRE HABLEMİTOĞLU CASE CANNOT BE LEFT TO ONE PROSECUTOR"

Hülya Elmadağ, the lawyer for defendant Mehmet Narin, requested that the file of her client, whose manner of membership in the organization and whose actions were not revealed, be separated and that an acquittal decision be issued for him; if this is not accepted, she requested that he be exempted from the hearings because he works in Basra.

Eren Turan, the lawyer for Tarkan Mumcuoğlu, who is alleged to be the "trigger man," stated that the prosecutor revealed that he had abandoned this claim by requesting not to wait for the letter from the TRNC, which was directly related to Mumcuoğlu, and spoke as follows:

"I had already told the Prosecutor at the very beginning of the investigation, 'Prove that Tarkan Mumcuoğlu left Kazakhstan, and I will quit being a lawyer.' I thank him for not embarrassing me. The court filed a criminal complaint to identify the people thought to be following Hablemitoğlu, but as if there were no other prosecutors in the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, Zafer Ergün looked into this issue as well and issued a 'decision of non-prosecution.' So what, are we to say there is nothing we can do just because he gave this decision? A decision of non-prosecution cannot be issued because the identities of the suspects could not be determined. I emphasize in particular that the massive case of Necip Hablemitoğlu should not be left to a magistrate judge or a prosecutor. Zihni Çakır, who was heard as a witness, confessed that they worked on the file with the Prosecutor while there was a confidentiality order. How can you make this person a witness? We want the pictures of the people in the footage who are thought to be following Hablemitoğlu to be sent to the Police Department and to ask whether these are police personnel, and especially whether they work in intelligence. The existing evidence in the file does not lead us to the defendants here; it leads us elsewhere. Uncovering these is also a duty that history has imposed on the Court."

Lawyer Hacer Ural, who repeated the claim that Nuri Gökhan Bozkır was brought from Ukraine through illegal means and was tortured at the MİT for 20-25 days, asked the questions, "Why is Nuri Gökhan Bozkır a member of the organization, what is his benefit from this murder?"

Upon the Presiding Judge asking whether she was making a defense against the final opinion, Lawyer Ural said, "No, but if you allow me, I will explain. He has been detained for 4.5 years. We have paid very heavy prices."

Dilara Yılmaz, the lawyer for Enver Altaylı, also emphasized that the fact that the indictment and the opinion prosecutor were the same person prevented the truth from coming out and requested that a new opinion be prepared by a prosecutor who adheres to professional ethics and rules.

ALL REQUESTS EXCEPT ONE WERE REJECTED

After the half-hour break given to the hearing, the Presiding Judge announced that, as of the current stage, it was decided to stop waiting for the response letter requested from the TRNC because it "would not add anything new to the file," that it was decided to wait for the result of the objections made to the Magistrate Judge, and that all requests except for Mehmet Narin's exemption from the hearings were rejected.

The Court, which also decided to continue the detention of Nuri Gökhan Bozkır and the judicial control measures of the other defendants, adjourned the hearing to December 8-12 to receive the defense statements against the final opinion once the decision from the Magistrate Judge arrives.

Müyesser YILDIZ

October 20, 2025

News Source: Müyesser Yıldız