Interim ruling in the Adnan Oktar case

An interim ruling has been issued in the Adnan Oktar case. Paşa Durmuş, one of the detained defendants, was released, and the hearing was adjourned until October 15.

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The first hearing of the newly opened case regarding the financial structure of the Adnan Oktar Armed Criminal Organization took place at the Çağlayan Courthouse.

The trial of 72 defendants, including Adnan Oktar, with 4 in custody and 42 as fugitives, has begun. Adnan Oktar, who is not in custody within the scope of this specific case, did not attend the hearing held at the Istanbul 1st High Criminal Court.

Detained defendant Paşa Durmuş stated that he is a real estate agent and was taken into custody along with his family because he rented a house to Orkun Şimşek. After hearing the defenses, the court announced its interim ruling and decided to release detained defendant Paşa Durmuş.

The hearing was adjourned until October 15.

'I REQUEST TO BE RELEASED'

Taking the floor in court, detained defendant Ali Sadun Engin stated that he had previously been acquitted in trials regarding charges of aiding FETÖ and international espionage.

Defending that he has been against crime throughout his life, Engin noted the following:

"I never received a salary from anyone. On the contrary, I spent from my own pocket. Mr. Adnan did not receive a single penny from the books he wrote. It is said that I acted as a bridge with Israel. I may have acted as a bridge in the sense of telling the truth and forbidding evil. We are already trying to act as a bridge.

We invited Muslim leaders and rabbis from Palestine to our channel and had them speak. When Mr. Adnan opened the Torah to them, he explained things such as that it is permissible to pay a ransom or apologize during a war. After the Mavi Marmara raid, the Israeli government wrote an apology letter to Turkey and paid compensation. As a non-governmental organization, we were instrumental in such a thing."

Engin also denied the charges brought against him regarding sexual assault.

Orkun Şimşek, who was arrested as part of the Adnan Oktar armed criminal organization investigation and wishes to benefit from the effective remorse law, said, "There are people who could not achieve their dream of a rich husband and escaped being punished by taking on the status of a complainant. For this reason, I have been detained as a sexual assault suspect for 22 months. I am seriously victimized. I have a father who is in need of care. There is no possibility of me fleeing abroad. There is no evidence to be tampered with because the only evidence in the file is the statements of women. I request to be released under judicial control conditions, such as house arrest with an electronic tag."

WHO IS ADNAN OKTAR?

Adnan Oktar (born February 2, 1956, Ankara) is a Turkish cult leader and criminal known to the public as Adnan Hoca. The cult he founded and leads, which bears his name and centers on the belief in Mahdiism, began to be known by the public in the 1980s; it came to the agenda with crimes such as separating children of wealthy families from their parents, sexual abuse, blackmail, and threats.

On July 11, 2018, Adnan Oktar and 176 people accompanying him were taken into custody on allegations of many crimes, including "establishing an organization for the purpose of committing crimes," "child sexual abuse," "sexual assault," and "political and military espionage," and he was arrested by the court he was brought before on July 18, 2018. Oktar was first placed in Metris Prison and later transferred to Edirne F-Type Closed Prison. In the case where 236 defendants, 78 of whom were in custody, were tried, the court announced its verdict on January 11, 2021, and sentenced Oktar to 1,075 years and three months in prison for 24 separate crimes.

Later, when the sentences of the organization members he managed were added, his sentence increased to 9,803 years and 6 months in prison and a 400,000 lira fine. The verdict was overturned by the Supreme Court of Appeals on March 15, 2022, due to "incomplete prosecution and erroneous evaluation." Oktar was transferred from Edirne to Erzurum on April 26, 2022. As a result of his retrial, he was sentenced to 8,658 years in prison on November 17, 2022. On April 12, 2023, the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice upheld the prison sentences given in the relevant case.

The sexual abuse system of the cult founded by Oktar was turned into a graphic novel by evaluating digital evidence, complainant-victim and effective remorse statements, technical surveillance, wiretapping, and audio tapes included in file number 2019/313, in which cult members are being tried.

News Source: 12punto