New development in the Bora Kaplan case: Is that “president” the presiding judge?

Following the arrest of the police chiefs who conducted the investigation into the Bora Kaplan criminal organization, a new development has occurred. A defense attorney in the case heard at the Ankara 32nd High Criminal Court, while filing a motion for the recusal of the judge, asked whether the “President” mentioned by the arrested Deputy Chief of the Organized Crime Bureau (KOM), Şevket Demircan, in his phone conversations with the fugitive secret witness codenamed “M7”, Serdar Sertçelik, is the Presiding Judge of the court.

Ela Leyla Umur, the attorney for defendant Mahmut Gökhan Çanga, stated in her recusal motion filed today that the investigation conducted by the Ministry of Interior’s civil inspectors into the police officers revealed that the recordings released by Serdar Sertçelik were not manipulated and were reflected as they were. After explaining that KOM Deputy Branch Manager Şevket Demircan did not deny these conversations in his statement, she drew attention to two audio recordings released by Sertçelik as follows:

“In the audio recording in the first video released, Serdar Sertçelik, addressing the Deputy Chief of the Organized Crime Bureau, said: 'My only reservation is this, now that Akbank, this Mücahit, Bekir and so on are involved, I was afraid of how Bekir Bozdağ and others would react, would the film turn on me?' Şevket Demircan, addressing Serdar Sertçelik, said: 'Okay. I have discussed those issues, I mean, with the President... I am saying this even though I shouldn't, they gave us the news that 'you started the clean hands operation with your own hands, judge from there.' Frankly, when we listened to this audio recording, we could not understand who the mentioned 'president' was. However, we understood who the mentioned 'president' was from the narrative in the audio recording in the last video shared by Serdar Sertçelik. In this last video, Şevket Demircan, addressing Serdar Sertçelik, says: 'We will enter a different process again, then you will continue in the same way, but you will not be M7, you will be another Z7 or there will be another meaning, okay, you will be given a new identity, look, this is the last chance Serdar, I will let you know on Monday what day you will come. I will tell you, Serdar, leave on Tuesday, on Wednesday we will pick you up from the thing, from the border gate, when we pick you up from the border gate, I will also have a news report made there, with a fake identity, passport, I will serve your passport and so on, then I will take you and bring you to the court, you will appear in court secretly, you will not appear here, you will appear directly in the courtroom. Your statement will be taken next to the president there. There, it will be taken as the normal Serdar Sertçelik in the presence of your lawyer, they can also have a lawyer... You give your statement, you don't accept the accusations, if you say I was ashamed, I didn't do it, I am already a victim, I am in a difficult situation, this and that, then the rest is up to me, but after that, after these events take place, you will not go one word outside of what I say. Look, until this job is finished, this won't be able to save it, there is no escaping it. The President is messing with them... Look Serdar, I've been exhausted from talking to the president since 9 in the morning...'”

Following the transcript of these conversations, Attorney Umur recalled that the Court decided on April 26 to waive the hearing of “M7” as a witness. She argued that some expressions in the said decision lead to the conclusion that the secret witness was called with the message, “'Just come, we will give you a new codename and listen to you again,' and that a bargain was officially struck with the witness through the Deputy Chief of the KOM Branch.”

Attorney Umur then directed the following questions to the Presiding Judge:

“Then, Mr. President, since there is no tampering with these audio recordings and they are of evidentiary value, as established by the inspector's report, and since police personnel with rank are being arrested within the scope of the investigation initiated based on these records, and it is clear from the officer's own statement that he was exhausted from talking to you... How can you be in direct contact with a law enforcement agency? You are a judge, you are the president of a court, you are the decision-making authority; why are you engaging in the effort to create and collect evidence against the defense?”

At the end of her petition, Attorney Umur included issues such as KOM police officers watching the hearings, the failure to investigate allegations that defendants and witnesses were subjected to torture, pressure, and ill-treatment, the Court's rejection of all requests, the fact that the secret witness M7's statement was taken by police officers rather than the prosecutor, and the Presiding Judge directing the complainants being heard to answer by saying, “'I don't remember,' 'I don't know.'” Stating that these issues cast doubt on the impartiality of the Court, Attorney Umur filed a motion for recusal, saying, “Is your court making fun of us?”

News Source: 12punto