New secret witness scandal in the Bora Kaplan case!

The trial of Ayhan Bora Kaplan, who is accused of leading an organized crime syndicate, continued.

In today's session of the trial, held by the Ankara 32nd High Criminal Court at the Sincan Prison complex, the defense statements of the defendants and their lawyers against the final opinion were heard.

Muhammet Güngör, the lawyer for defendant Ali Dönmez, stated that his client worked as a valet at the mentioned venues and that the employer-employee relationship with Fethi Koyuncu was based on prejudice, saying:

“We have not been able to comprehend why Ali Dönmez is being tried. He is a child living in a shantytown. He worked as a valet due to financial concerns, moving in and out of jobs. Membership in an organization requires dominance; it is not easy to just enter and leave. His mother and father are disabled; he takes care of them. He receives aid from the municipality and the Governor's Office. The membership of such a poor person in an organization is contrary to the ordinary flow of life. A pump-action shotgun was found in his home. What kind of action could be carried out for an organization with this?”

Attorney Cansu Demir Aksoy also stated that her client, Arif Buğra Meşe, worked as a valet, that the defendants alleged to be organization leaders did not know him, and that he did not know them, saying, “There is no evidence, there is an accusation.”

Volkan Şener, the lawyer for defendant Muhammet Kaplan, noted the following regarding the accusation of pulling out the teeth of the complainant Erkan Doğan:

“We asked you to bring the hospital records for Erkan Doğan's teeth, you did not accept. We requested that you obtain an expert opinion, you did not accept. I wonder, on what basis will you make a decision? I don't know if you even have a dentistry degree. You did whatever work was necessary against the defendants; but you did not accept a single thing in their favor.”

In the continuation of his defense, Attorney Volkan Şener explained the latest development regarding the secret witness coded Ü5, who retracted their statement claiming it was taken under duress and whose identity was allegedly exposed:

“There is a decision of yours dated November 5, 2024, in the file that is not visible in UYAP. On November 4, Ü5 submitted a petition stating that they wanted to give a statement again as a witness. After receiving a written opinion from the Public Prosecutor, you put the petition in the court safe and decided to write to the prosecutor's office for the execution of the requirement and to evaluate the situation together with the verdict. No, it is essential for this person to come to court before the verdict, explain what they experienced with their own identity, and answer our questions.”

While reading the WhatsApp correspondence between the Prosecutor and the Court President with the KOM (Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime) police, Attorney Şener said, “How are we going to deal with all this lawlessness?”

Attorney Şener concluded his defense with these words:

“I still want to believe that there are judges and prosecutors who believe in the rule of law. Otherwise, I cannot do this profession. I am tired of being an extra.”

I AM A LABORING FAMILY MAN, NOT AN ORGANIZATION MEMBER

Detained defendant Kamber Keskin, who is requested to be punished for membership in an organization, stated that he had no membership anywhere other than a political party to get a job and a union membership directed by his workplace, and spoke as follows:

“Since I am married and have 3 children, I had to work in security since 2008 because I had to do extra work. Sometimes I worked three jobs a day, I know I slept while walking. I am a laboring family man, not an organization member. I have never been involved in any crime.”

The afternoon part of the hearing began with the defense of Kamber Keskin's lawyer, Nazım Orhan. After criticizing the court for rejecting all his requests, he announced that he would try another way to get his defense taken seriously, and by saying “In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,” he recited some surahs about oppression and injustice, and accused the police who conducted the investigation of “acting dishonorably and shamelessly,” and the trial prosecutor of “playing the three monkeys.”

Reacting to the Prosecutor's inclusion of the statements of secret witnesses M7 and Ü5 in his opinion despite the facts that emerged, Attorney Orhan said for Ü5, “He is just a customer who goes to these places. Looking at his descriptions, it's as if he had a camera attached to his head, going and shooting every day. Can such a thing be? We have been discussing this as legal evidence for months. My heart aches, I swear.”

WHO IS THE MAN BEATEN AT THE BAR?

While mentioning the allegation that Bora Kaplan shot three of his staff after a person, who is claimed to be the son of Süleyman Soylu's cousin Sadık Soylu, was beaten at Tren Bar, Attorney Nazım Orhan asked the following:

“Who is the person beaten? He was there during the incident too. Where is this man? Didn't you wonder at all, Mr. Prosecutor? You say he was beaten. This is also a crime. Why don't you conduct an ex officio investigation and bring this man in? Aren't we tired of FETÖ-like attitudes yet?”

STILL NOT LISTENING

Third-class police chief N.A.Ç., who is accused of aiding the criminal organization, explained that nonsensical, incompetent, and irregular investigation documents were prepared and that there was organized malice here, saying, “If the prosecutor had listened to what I have been telling until today, he would have requested my acquittal. But thank goodness, he is still not listening.”

N.A.Ç., who is accused of not performing the necessary procedures in 2016 when complainant Erkan Doğan was allegedly kidnapped and his teeth pulled out, said:

“The Deputy Chief of the KOM Branch at that time was Murat Çelik, who is now the Deputy Chief of the Ankara Police Department conducting this investigation. It is Murat Çelik who mounted me into this file to save his own unit in the Erkan Doğan incident and dump it on my unit. If the then-KOM Branch Manager were called and heard, he might say, 'I sent Murat Çelik away from the branch because I smelled something fishy.'”

WHICH ORGANIZATION DOES THE CHIEF BELONG TO?

Noting that the reassignment of 40 personnel after the dismissal of former Ankara Police Chief Servet Yılmaz was presented as “Servet Yılmaz's princes were sent away,” but that he was not Yılmaz's prince, N.A.Ç. continued as follows:

“The common feature of the 40 people is that F4 is written next to our names on the SD card seized with the Garson code, meaning we are enemies of FETÖ and all similar formations. In 2011, my branch manager took action against me with fake tip-off letters. Later, it turned out he was a member of FETÖ and he was tried. I wonder which organization Murat Çelik belongs to? It won't take a few years for us to learn the name of this organization too. I know, and the public will learn too.”

The Police Chief's completion of his defense by saying, “You are feeding the lion to the jackals,” was applauded by the detained defendants.

FORENSIC MEDICINE PROFESSOR SAID 'SUICIDE'

Ela Leyla Umur, the lawyer for Mahmut Gökhan Çanga, who is accused of killing Semih Arslan, announced that she had prepared Prof. Dr. Gürsel Çetin, Head of the Department of Forensic Medicine at Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, from whom she had previously received an expert opinion that the incident was a suicide, and requested that he be heard as a witness. Upon the court's acceptance of the request, Prof. Çetin, who was heard, stated that he had been in this business for 37 years and had worked in Forensic Medicine for 25 years, and that they did not see any findings of murder in Semih Arslan's death and reached the conclusion of a suicide possibility. Upon questions from the defendants and their lawyers, Prof. Çetin said, “The prosecutor's report also has the same findings as ours, but for some reason, they hesitated to write the conclusion of suicide. Yet, that is what they should have said.”

After the witness statement, the President wanted to continue the hearing. However, when the lawyers stated that they were very tired, the President ended the hearing, warning, “Let there be no trouble because we won't be able to finish later.” The President also told Bora Kaplan, “It is important to speak the essence, not to talk over and over,” and said that they would start taking Kaplan's defense on Monday. Upon Kaplan's reply, “I won't be able to finish,” the President was heard saying, “Be realistic. I know you, you will finish.”

The hearing will continue tomorrow.

News Source: 12punto