Scandalous allegations in secret witness case: Prepared under pressure and threats

Report: Müyesser YILDIZ -12punto

Sertçelik, who claimed that despite the prosecutor who took his statement on the day he arrived in Turkey setting a date for his defense for February 9, he had him taken from prison on February 7 to conduct his interrogation, and that during the interrogation, the prosecutor told him that if he admitted the found phone and the messages within it were his and benefited from effective remorse, he would not refer him for arrest, explained that his secret witness statement given under the code name M7 was prepared by KOM (Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime) police officers under pressure and threats, that the prosecutor made it appear as if he had taken the statement himself after removing a few names, and that the same police officers suggested he flee abroad. Meanwhile, his lawyers added a note to the interrogation record stating that the prosecutor did not include in the record Sertçelik's statements regarding MHP Leader Devlet Bahçeli and Halkbank General Manager Osman Arslan.

As is known, after Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on January 31 that he had been brought to Turkey, Serdar Sertçelik was taken to give a statement to Prosecutor Mustafa Kaya, who prepared the Bora Kaplan case indictment and is conducting other related investigations. He was subsequently arrested by the Criminal Judgeship of Peace.

Accused KOM Police, Requested His Release

Two days later, the Ankara 32nd High Criminal Court, which is hearing the main Bora Kaplan case, took the statement of Sertçelik, who was in Sincan Prison, via SEGBİS (Audio and Visual Information System) and decided to arrest him for many crimes, including "managing an armed organization established for the purpose of committing crimes, intentional killing and injury, looting, and deprivation of liberty."

Following these developments, Serdar Sertçelik and his lawyers submitted a petition to the Ankara 32nd High Criminal Court yesterday, making several allegations regarding both the process of him being made a secret witness under the code name M7 and his flight abroad, as well as what happened during the prosecutor's interrogation after he arrived in Turkey.

His lawyers, emphasizing that Sertçelik came to Turkey of his own volition from Hungary to clear himself of the accusations against him and to reveal the judicial truth, and after requesting his release, stated the following in summary:

"Our client was first brought before Investigation Prosecutor Mustafa Kaya on January 31, was informed about the investigation file, and was briefly told what he was accused of, but the client stated that he had not had the opportunity to examine the allegations and the file, and the prosecutor gave him until February 9 to provide his statement. Although our client's statement was not taken, he was not asked whether he wanted to use his right to remain silent, and despite being given time for his statement with a practice not written in CMK (Criminal Procedure Code) application and law, he was referred for arrest for the crimes of deprivation of liberty, slander, and violation of confidentiality, and the Criminal Judgeship of Peace arrested him for all three crimes separately, even though his statement had not been taken regarding these accusations and without requesting that this deficiency be remedied. Our client, for whom there were arrest warrants issued by your court, was connected to your court via SEGBİS from Sincan Prison on February 2, and requested time to examine the indictments and detailed information regarding the accusations against him and to prepare his defense, but an arrest decision was made again. Meanwhile, while the client had begun preparing his defense, despite being given time until February 9, he was brought to the Courthouse by the Prosecutor on Saturday, February 7, and his statement was taken."

Sertçelik, in his petition starting with the words, "The so-called secret witness M7 is me, Serdar Sertçelik, who is also a defendant in your file," alleged first of all that his secret witness statement was prepared by KOM police officers "with pressure, psychological violence, threats, and unlawful promises, outside of his knowledge and will," that the prosecutor definitely did not take this statement, but only made him press his thumb after removing a few names and said, "I am releasing you under house arrest. You follow the police's instructions," and that the police suggested he flee and that he was in constant contact with them while abroad, and explained the following:

"After Greece, I went to Montenegro. When I saw that I was accused of being a criminal organization leader in the indictment, I spoke with Şevket Demircan and said, 'I don't trust you anymore, I won't come to the hearing either.' This time they threatened me with my brother, who is also a teacher, and detained him in a money laundering file. Upon this, I contacted Şevket Demircan through Nurullah Özgür Kopuk and said, 'Release my brother, he has no crime.' He said, 'If you come to Turkey and give a statement as a secret witness, I will have your brother arrested, otherwise he will never see the light of day again.' I said, 'Okay, I will come. I will say whatever you want, just release my brother.' Indeed, they released him with judicial control. Then I started talking to Şevket Demircan again. Şevket Demircan said, 'You were removed from the secret witness program because you fled abroad. When we bring you to Turkey, we will implement the secret witness program again, but there are schemes we created in these second secret witness statements. In addition to the previous ones, there will be different names and events.' I asked about these names and events. Upon this, he said there would be politicians, members of the judiciary, and businessmen I had never met. Until this conversation, I had never recorded any audio. After this conversation, I realized that their goals were very different, and that these were issues that would keep me and my entire family under danger and suspicion for life. I was overcome with great fear and panic. In order to prove in the future that this fiction did not belong to me, I started recording the conversations. From the contents of these conversations, what Şevket Demircan said about politicians, members of the judiciary, businessmen, the AK Party, and the MHP, and the threats he made to me, have been revealed with the transcription of the audio recordings. I recorded these entirely to protect and defend myself and published them without changing them in any way. After these disclosures, I learned that KOM had formed a special team for me and was preparing to take me by force from Montenegro at the cost of killing me, so I left there and went to Hungary. I was arrested at the border. When I appeared in court, I explained what had been done to me and presented the audio recordings. The court also saw that my life safety was not guaranteed if I were extradited and decided against my extradition."

Fingerprint on the Found Phone

Serdar Sertçelik, in his petition, also voiced the following allegations regarding what happened in the Prosecutor's statement after arriving in Turkey:

"I understood that I was facing a new setup in the new investigation when I was taken to Prosecutor Mustafa Kaya's office; from the bargain the Prosecutor made with me, saying, 'Make an effective remorse, accept the issues I will tell you, I will not arrest you.' Although I made a very long explanation and gave a statement regarding this investigation file and the events, Prosecutor Mustafa Kaya only included a part of them in the record, and my lawyers had to add a note. An Android brand phone was invented, which was stated to have been left at the door of the lawyer of Şevket Demircan, one of the police chiefs against whom a lawsuit was filed due to my fleeing abroad, and which was stated to contain dozens of fake messages between me and some individuals. Messages that were claimed to have taken place between me and many people who had nothing to do with me were placed inside this phone, and based on this fake phone, an investigation was launched against many people along with me. They arrested me from here too, for no reason. In other words, just like the 19-page secret witness statement they prepared themselves at the Police Department, they are trying to make me a tool for a setup here too. That phone does not belong to me. Just as I have never had such a phone, I have never used the line that this phone is reported to be connected to. Just as Prosecutor Mustafa Kaya wrote the so-called secret witness statement into the file as if he had taken it himself, even though he did not, he told me that he would not refer me for arrest if I accepted a few new events told by him regarding the phone and the fake messages inside it in this unlawful investigation, and forced me to make an effective remorse. I was forced to say that I did not know the file and its content and asked for time for the statement, he said, 'I will take your statement on February 9, give your statement in line with what I told you and my offer,' and he did not take my statement when I first went. While I was waiting to tell all the truths on February 9, he suddenly called me and my lawyers to his presence and took my statement accompanied by gendarmerie officers. When you examine the entire file, you will see how I and my family were victimized, how your court and the president before you were misled, and how things were done by being deceived."

What Is and Isn't in the Interrogation Record?

Serdar Sertçelik and his lawyers also added the 6-page prosecutor's interrogation record dated February 7 to their petition.

So, what is and isn't in the approximately 5.5-hour interrogation record? To summarize;

Right at the beginning, it was noted that one gendarmerie and two prison officers were also present at the interrogation "to ensure the security of the interrogation room."

In Serdar Sertçelik's statement, it was stated that he reported that he wanted to come to Turkey by submitting a petition on January 26 of his own volition, even though a decision was made in his favor twice in Hungary, and that he came this way, and his accounts of how his secret witness statement was taken, that former Ankara Deputy Police Chief Murat Çelik called him via FaceTime on November 27 and told him he had to flee, that he fled at his instigation, and that Murat Çelik had the red notice against him issued for revenge and to silence him were conveyed.

Fingerprint on the Bag of the Found Phone

Continuing, the answers Sertçelik gave to the questions regarding the found phone, the fingerprint on the bag in which this phone was placed, and the statement of the person whose fingerprint was found are as follows:

"They had taken the phone I used while coming from the TRNC when I was detained. I think they created fake messages by combining and editing my conversations on this phone with the WhatsApp conversations on my brother's phone, whom they detained later, and using technological means. The phone in question is Android. I, on the other hand, have used an iPhone brand phone all my life. The person whose fingerprint was found in the fingerprint examination report has good relations with the Police. The fingerprint on this bag was either left intentionally, or it belongs to the person they made leave it without realizing it while they were making it themselves. Or it may have been left to create the perception that the phone was sent with my knowledge and to slander me. I have had no communication with this person for at least 3-3.5 years. I want the HTS records of the complainants and the witness to be investigated. Also, according to the information conveyed, I learned that although the phone was found on September 12, 2025, the criminal complaint petition was submitted to the prosecutor's office on September 24. In this regard, I want the witnesses and camera records, the foreign records of the person whose fingerprint was found to be investigated, and also a detailed technical examination of the phone to be carried out, and the message IDs to be identified and investigated for whether there was manipulation. I have not communicated with Cengiz Haliç in any way since I left Turkey. For this reason, the correspondence is not real."

In the record, it was also stated that Serdar Sertçelik said, "The prosecutor said he thought he would not refer me for arrest if I accepted that these phone contents belonged to me and that I sent the phone, and if I accepted to benefit from the provisions of effective remorse. I definitely do not want to benefit. I am complaining about the person whose fingerprint is on the phone and other suspects to be identified," and his lawyers stated the following:

"Although some names mentioned in the correspondence subject to the investigation were specifically mentioned by my client, they were not included in the statement... A fake WhatsApp was created by cloning the phone subject to the investigation using technical equipment and was shown as if it belonged to my client."

Note on Bahçeli and Halkbank General Manager

Finally, it was seen that Serdar Sertçelik and his lawyers added the following note by hand at the bottom of this record:

"Although the client stated in the presence that the messages regarding the intervention in the speeches of MHP Chairman Mr. Devlet Bahçeli, which were indicated to him in the WhatsApp messages on the phone subject to the file, which he declared did not belong to him, were not real, and that such a conversation did not take place, this statement was not included in the interrogation record. For this reason, this note was added in the presence of the interrogation prosecutor, the clerk, those present, and the suspect and his defense attorneys. Again, although he stated that the messages regarding the Halkbank General Manager Osman Arslan, who was also mentioned in the statement, and his taking bribes were not real, this was not included in the interrogation record."

News Source: 12punto