Prison sentence for the club attack on journalist Yavuz Selim Demirağ: 'It is linked to the Sinan Ateş murder'

12punto.com.tr / Müyesser Yıldız

Seven defendants who attacked journalist and author Yavuz Selim Demirağ with clubs in front of his home after a television program he attended on the night of May 10, 2019, have been sentenced to 9 years in prison each.

Yavuz Selim Demirağ emphasized that there is a connection between this attack on him and the Sinan Ateş murder. The defendants who attacked Demirağ said, "We regret the incident we caused for Mr. Yavuz and for being here."

In the previous hearing of the case held at the Ankara 36th High Criminal Court, the prosecutor, who announced his opinion on the merits, had requested that the defendants Ali Adanur, Adem Çoban, Orhan Çoban, Adem Yavuz, Emrah Yavuz, Necmettin İnan, and Furkan Çelik be punished for the crimes of intentional injury and threats.

In the 6th and final hearing of the case today, while the prosecutor reiterated his opinion, the defenses of the defendants and the complainant Yavuz Selim Demirağ and their lawyers against the opinion were heard.

'A HAND INTERVENED'

Journalist Yavuz Selim Demirağ, who began his remarks by saying, “Exactly 5 years, 1 month, and 1 day have passed since the attack where I was left for dead,” stated the following in summary:

"For 3.5 years, the relevant prosecutor's office could not write the indictment. The indictment was written only thanks to public pressure, my journalist colleagues, and some politicians keeping the incident on the agenda. The fact that the investigation file was kept waiting for 3.5 years naturally has political implications. However, I must also remind you of the effects of the mafia, which saddens me the most.

This file is not an ordinary case of grievous bodily harm or attempted murder. Although my home, where I was attacked with the intent to kill, was less than 100 meters from the Yenimahalle Police Station, the police arrived at the scene 21 minutes later. Although there were hundreds of security cameras on the route, none of them were examined.

The only security camera footage in the file was obtained through the efforts of my family and, unfortunately, was not even watched by the prosecutor's office conducting the investigation. A 'hand' intervened to ensure this incident was treated as a 'simple assault case.' Because by then, the license plate of the vehicle used by those who organized the attack had been revealed, and the company that owned the vehicle had been identified. The incident is actually clear. The company in question is owned by a shareholder who is a provincial head of a political party.

After the attack, from which I survived by chance, I said to TV channels from my hospital room, 'If these incidents continue with impunity, I fear it could pave the way for armed attacks.' Indeed, attacks with clubs, iron bars, and knives continued. They attacked Çağrı Üner in Mersin. He, too, had to reach for his weapon for self-defense.

Then, a political murder was committed in the heart of Ankara, the capital. There is a link between the Sinan Ateş murder and this file. When they couldn't find ignorant youths to attack me, those who hired the elements of Ayhan Bora Kaplan, the mafia of Ankara's nightlife, as subcontractors, found the Gümüşsuyu gang in Maltepe, Istanbul, for Sinan Ateş as well."

Demirağ's lawyer Erhan Tokatlı also noted, "The fact that the defendants had no prior relationship or hostility with Yavuz Selim Demirağ brings to mind that a planned crime of incitement was committed. The defendants' claim that the incident stemmed from a traffic dispute does not match the footage. When we look at the actions of each defendant one by one, it is seen that they acted extremely professionally and were organized," stating that the crime committed by the defendants was not assault but attempted murder, and that they should be punished for this crime.

DEFENDANTS: 'WE REGRET'

One of the defendants attending the hearing, Orhan Çoban, stated that he had no connection with Ayhan Bora Kaplan and that he did not even go to the venues in question to eat, and then said, “I did not take instructions from anyone. I regret the incident we caused for Mr. Yavuz and for being here.”

Defendant Adem Yavuz also stated that he regretted what they had caused Demirağ, while Necmettin İnan and Furkan Çelik said they did not know Ayhan Bora Kaplan.

Their lawyers argued that a regrettable incident occurred that should not have happened as a result of a traffic dispute and that the defendants expressed their regret, while also claiming that there were serious contradictions in the reports provided by GATA and the Forensic Medicine Institute, and that there were differences between the statements made by journalist-author Murat Ağırel, who dropped Demirağ off at his home after the TV program, immediately after the incident and his testimony in court.

Following the statements, the court unanimously sentenced the defendants to 9 years in prison each for the crimes of “intentional injury and threats.”

News Source: 12punto

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