Newborn Gang ringleader Fırat Sarı to present his defense today

The trial of the 'Newborn Gang'—the baby killers who transferred emergency newborn patients to the neonatal units of private hospitals they had pre-arranged agreements with, causing their deaths and generating illicit profit—continues today in Istanbul, with 47 defendants facing charges.

Yesterday's hearing lasted approximately 11 hours. With the completion of İlker Gönen's defense, a total of 21 imprisoned defendants have now presented their statements.

The imprisoned doctor Fırat Sarı, the ringleader of the gang that shook Turkey, will present his defense today.

The hearing will begin at 10:00 AM.

WHAT HAPPENED IN YESTERDAY'S HEARING?

In the afternoon session of the hearing held by the Bakırköy 22nd High Criminal Court in the courthouse conference hall, the defense of defendant doctor İlker Gönen, who is alleged to have managed and directed the criminal organization, was heard.

Gönen stated that he met Fırat Sarı through his mentor while working at Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Training and Research Hospital in 2017.

Noting that his mentor told him Sarı had developed a drug for jaundice treatment and suggested they test the device together, Gönen claimed they met a few more times with Sarı and did not speak afterward.

Defendant Gönen stated that in 2020, Fırat Sarı called him, mentioned he had founded a company called Medisense, and needed a consultant doctor, adding: "When I asked what kind of service it provided, he said it acted as an intermediary for finding patients and staff working in neonatology. Since I had never heard of this, I hung up and researched it. I saw that almost all private hospitals receive services from such external firms for departments like physical therapy, ophthalmology, intensive care, neonatal intensive care, emergency, dermatology, and cardiology."

Explaining that he worked as a consultant for the company in question, Gönen stated that he left the company of his own volition at the end of 2023 and began working at a state hospital.

Gönen claimed he met the defendant Gıyasettin Mert Özdemir, an ambulance driver, through Fırat Sarı, knew he directed patients, but only learned later that he worked for 112 (emergency services).

Stating that births take place in 26 public hospitals in Istanbul, Gönen said that the incubator ratio in these hospitals remains low compared to birth rates, which is why private hospital neonatal intensive care units are used.

"IF PUBLIC HOSPITALS ARE FULL, A SEARCH FOR SPACE IN PRIVATE HOSPITALS BEGINS"

Regarding the patient transfer process, Gönen said: "In transfer procedures, the doctor emails 112 with patient information. The staff member who receives the email calls the doctor and asks 3 questions: the patient's condition, how they will be transported, and what is required. 112 begins searching for space for the patient. Neonatal intensive care units in public hospitals are 99 percent full. The highest capacity is at Başakşehir Çam and Sakura City Hospital. Six patients are transferred out daily just from that hospital's maternity ward. If public hospitals are full, a search for space in private hospitals begins. This takes about 5-6 hours. In public hospitals, the transfer process is not as simple as taking a patient from here and putting them there."

Regarding his conversations with Özdemir about transfers, Gönen argued that there was not a single transfer in these conversations that bypassed the 112 system or was prioritized, that the inspector's 112 report found no abnormalities in transfer percentages, and that while he had expressed opinions about neonatal and adult patients, he had been looking after newborns since 2010 and had no involvement in adult patient consultations.

Gönen stated that he wanted to speak about the 5 patients he is accused of harming in the expert opinion included in the indictment, saying:

"Our esteemed prosecutor requested an expert opinion. For some reason, the Ministry of Health Inspection Board had the expert opinion prepared by 3 neonatologists working at the same hospital. While obtaining the opinion, transcripts were sent alongside the documents and information. While I haven't had a word to say for two months, the easiest thing has been to read and comment on transcripts in the media. The reason I am accused in the case of Baby Karakoç is that I did not administer a serum containing vitamins. I am accused of negligence and intentional killing for this. The patient goes to Çınarcık State Hospital. The baby's abdomen is purple and swollen. There is a tear in the intestine, and surgery is required. They notify 112. No available space is found. The baby waits for a transfer for about 18 hours, and their condition worsens. They arrive at Bağcılar Medilife Hospital and are operated on. The patient stays for 64 days and unfortunately passes away. The nurses called me via video call for 64 days. None of those images are in the transcripts. The responsible doctor is the one who should prescribe the serum. Fine, you accused me as a consultant physician. Why don't you accuse the official intensive care physician who appears as the official consultant at that hospital?"

Explaining that the police seized all documents after Baby Karakoç's death, Gönen stated: "They take the baby to the Forensic Medicine Institute morgue. They take samples from the baby and examine them. In July, the Forensic Medicine Specialized Board unanimously stated that the baby's death was due to intestinal rupture and lung-brain damage related to premature birth, not malnutrition."

Stating that Baby Kerem Muhammet Tokluoğlu was very important to him, defendant Gönen said: "I am accused of not performing CPR and, for the first time in the Republic of Turkey, of committing euthanasia on this patient. The staff there intervene for two hours, then they call me and say, 'Doctor, he is not responding, we stopped.' I say, 'Show it as 20 more minutes in the file.' But the liar who prepared this expert opinion says, 'If İlker Gönen said show this as 20 minutes, he didn't have CPR performed.' In the nurse's observation, one hour of CPR is shown in the file. Where is the euthanasia, where is the failure to perform CPR?"

Pointing to the accusations against him, Gönen continued his defense:

"Because of me, 47 people are being accused of baby killing. Who will answer for this? No one can label me a baby killer. They stuck it on my forehead, but they will remove it. After this expert opinion was leaked to the media, no one asked how this opinion was prepared. I am being accused here of child and baby killing. Could anyone stand by us? No. Such pressure was created in the media that it was said, 'May they never see the light of day, may they be killed as soon as possible.'"

"THE EXPERT OPINION BUILT OUR GALLOWS, AND THE MEDIA KICKED THE STOOL"

Saying that these were circulated everywhere page by page under the guise of "journalism," Gönen said: "I came here accused of 5 deaths. In the first patient, Forensic Medicine put the truth aside. In one, I was accused of euthanasia; in the second, of seeing a lung rupture and not reporting it; in the third, of not administering adrenaline; and in the fourth, of taking blood from a corpse. I was accused of murder in four patients. In all of these, they accused me by looking at transcripts without referring to information or documents. For two months, I have been counting the minutes to explain this expert opinion to you. I have been accused of things that defy reason and logic. The expert opinion built our gallows, and the media kicked the stool."

Gönen argued that he was not an organization leader, was not part of an organization, and had no negligence in the deaths.

Gönen's lawyer, Aydın Mandar, stated that all defense attorneys for the defendants were in a difficult position, saying: "The 'baby killer' label was given to one person. I had thanked the bar associations, but I am taking it back. They filed requests to join the case and left without waiting for the decision. I am watching with sadness that an indictment is being written based on an expert opinion while an autopsy exists. There is no autopsy in the file where 10 baby deaths are accused. There is only one autopsy, and even in that, there is no finding of malnutrition."

News Source: AA