Özel announces to Turkey: The evidence we have shows a gang has created an 'IMM case exchange'

Özgür Özel made striking statements at the 'The Nation Protects Its Will' rally held in Tuzla. CHP Chairman Özel stated that those who slander without any evidence are becoming increasingly panicked and have begun to dare to do unthinkable things.

Here is Özel's much-discussed statement:

"I AM ANNOUNCING THIS TO TURKEY"

I am announcing to Turkey that we have not just rumors, but evidence, that a gang has created an IMM, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Case Exchange, where some prosecutors who perform their duties poorly and abuse their power, along with their messengers, intermediaries, and some lawyers, meet with individuals and say, 'The prosecutor sent me. I will be your lawyer. You will give this statement. You will say these things. You will also pay this much money.'

I have evidence that a lawyer, named M. Y., goes around visiting companies and saying, 'This or that might come to you. If you do this, I will save you,' that they have established contact with the families of some detainees, and that even a detainee currently inside had met with them in the past, withdrew the money requested by this lawyer from the bank, and delivered it to the people sent by this lawyer at the bank branch; the date is clear, the time is clear, the receipt is clear, and the camera footage is there.

And that these people took this money and brought it to the lawyer, and the lawyer, explicitly stating the name of a prosecutor, said, "This person will come on this day and give this statement," and that what he said actually happened on that day, and that he made others do things with this proof; it doesn't stop there, I don't know if he even had these people talk to the prosecutor on the phone, even if briefly. I don't know, I have the evidence. I am giving this to the Council of Judges and Prosecutors tomorrow.

They said there was 560 billion dollars in bribes, yet they couldn't prove a single penny against Mayor Ekrem. It is in all of our hands to expose a multi-million dollar exchange. This is my sincere call. Tomorrow, we will provide the date, day, time, and receipt to the HSK. I will provide the HSK with the transcript of the lawyer's 40-minute phone and WhatsApp conversation. I will provide the HSK with the transcript.

If they initiate proceedings based on that transcript and want to reach the evidence, the audio recording is at the disposal of the HSK. They have also turned this business into this form: While searching a house, they find an envelope, a yellow envelope, containing 15 thousand lira or 15 thousand dollars, the man's own money. Four months later, they tell someone, 'I want just this statement from you,' and tell that person, 'Say I gave you the yellow envelope,' 'Say I gave it as a bribe, and save your company.'

"WE ARE COWARDS IF WE SURRENDER"

In other words, we are cowards if we surrender to those who are trying to produce false proof and evidence now with false witnesses from old statements, just as FETÖ members did before, and who have now messed everything up and gotten involved in illicit gains.

The lawyer's name is Mehmet Yıldırım. Now we will complain about this lawyer to the bar association and the Union of Turkish Bar Associations. We will complain about this prosecutor to the Council of Judges and Prosecutors. And if an investigation is truly opened, if these prosecutors and this 'white Taurus' gang are dismantled, if the right prosecutors, honest prosecutors whom everyone trusts, are sent here, and if the right committees are formed, our heads are held high, and our live broadcasts are open. The nation will see the truth, and Turkey's path will be clear from that day on.

"I AM CALLING OUT TO THE HONEST PEOPLE IN THE AK PARTY"

I am calling out to political parties from here. For example, I am calling out to the honest people in the AK Party who will not remain silent about this filth. For example, let the previous Minister of Justice, Abdülhamit Gül, request it tomorrow. Let us provide the information and documents. The current Minister of Justice is uncomfortable with this gang; let him show courage, and let us dismantle it together. We are tired of the gang, not the judiciary, my friend.

The cost of renovating, restoring, and remodeling the house where the chief prosecutor, who is the head of these prosecutors, lives on the Bosphorus is 56 million in today's money. Other prosecutors live in lodgings or apartments and pay rent, while those who come for this operation live in villas. I said it that day, I said it today, and I am saying it now. You've hit a hard rock, son.

Go ahead and make a statement. Let it be announced to the public by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office: No prosecutor of ours has had phone contact with the son or spouse of any detainee. No prosecutor of ours has corresponded on WhatsApp through a lawyer.

'I am bringing you this on Monday,' 'He will give this statement on Tuesday. I am telling you how to give the statement'—such correspondence has not happened. No lawyer has demanded money in exchange for a statement. They haven't said that the prosecutors are aware of this. They haven't proven this with the prosecutor by showing the work done. No prosecutor of ours has spoken to a detainee's family via a lawyer's phone. Go ahead and write it, let me see, go ahead and write it, let me see."

News Source: 12punto