Scandalous gesture at the second hearing of the Sinan Ateş trial: Hitman Eray Özyağcı makes a trigger gesture at journalists

Müyesser YILDIZ / 12punto.com.tr

The second hearing of the trial regarding the murder of former Ülkü Ocakları (Idealist Hearths) President Sinan Ateş has begun.

In the trial held at the Ankara 32nd High Criminal Court, the defendants will present their defenses against the Prosecutor's opinion on the merits throughout this week.

The hearing began with a press card crisis. It was learned that the Presiding Judge had instructed during a meeting on Friday that only journalists with press cards would be admitted to the hearing. Consequently, many journalists were left outside. Lawyers and journalists who were able to enter are trying to resolve the issue.

'WE CANNOT SAY "THIS IS A JOURNALIST"'

The hearing began at 09:25. The Presiding Judge announced that an expert report regarding the murder footage had been received and stated that anyone who wished could make a statement on the matter, issuing the following warning to everyone:

"Let it not be like last time; whoever we give the floor to will speak. If anyone else speaks, they will be removed. Criticisms are also being made against us, and we are listening patiently. You listen too."

Following the Judge's statement, the lawyer for one of the defendants, former Murder Bureau Chief Mustafa Ensar Aykal, requested that the hearing be held in closed session. The court rejected the request, stating there was no necessity for such a measure.

Meanwhile, Ayşe Ateş's lawyer, Süleyman Kavak, brought up the issue of journalists not being admitted to the courtroom. The Presiding Judge passed the buck to the Presidential Directorate of Communications, stating, "Only those with press cards are accepted as journalists. As far as we have learned, those with turquoise press cards are accepted as journalists. The authority for this belongs to the Presidential Directorate of Communications. We cannot exceed our authority and say, 'This is a journalist.'"

'THERE ARE NONSENSICAL THINGS IN THE REPORT'

The first defendant to speak regarding the murder footage was Doğukan Çep, who is identified as the instigator. Çep explained that while Sinan Ateş's friend Selman Bozkurt was shot in the right shoulder, the report stated he was shot in the left shoulder, and that the person in the dairy truck, who was the only eyewitness to the incident, was not mentioned, saying, "There are nonsensical things in the report."

Çep's lawyer, Emine Tosun, also pointed out that the expert wrote the report three days before the footage was delivered to him and spoke as follows:

"It is understood that the expert made a superhuman effort. Even Selman Bozkurt laughed while reading the report. I do not think the expert examined the footage. It is a dubious report."

While the lawyer for hitman Eray Özyağcı also argued that the expert report was flawed, Ayşe Ateş's lawyer, Süleyman Kavak, reminded the court that Doğukan Çep used numerous Georgian phone lines and requested that the call, incoming call, HTS, and base station records of these phones be obtained within the scope of international legal assistance.

Following these statements, the hearing was adjourned for one hour to decide on the requests for further investigation.

When the hearing resumed at 10:52, the Prosecutor presented an opinion for the rejection of the lawyers' requests for further investigation. The court rejected all requests on the grounds that they would not contribute to the trial. Afterward, Ayşe Ateş's statement was taken.

Ayşe Ateş, who demanded that justice be served, said that Sinan Ateş achieved the unity, solidarity, and peace of the nation with his death, which he had wanted to realize while he was alive.

'I DO NOT EVEN WANT TO BREATHE THE SAME AIR AS THEM'

Sinan Ateş's mother, Saime Ateş, also spoke as follows:

"My son's killers are outside, the instigators are here. I do not want to breathe the same air as them, I do not even want to see their faces. Were they that afraid of my son? They did this for money. Let the killers say, 'Okay, you did it for money.' I pray to God that they burn with the pain of a child, just as we are burning. The killers are outside, Your Honor, you will see this too. I leave them to God."

During Saime Ateş's curses, a spectator said, "Amen," and the Judge ordered this person to be removed from the courtroom and for a report to be filed. The person in question replied, "Is it a crime to say Amen? I am leaving."

Selma Ateş, one of Sinan Ateş's sisters, said, "Those who instigated the killers are Ulvi İzzet Yönter, Semih Yalçın, Olcay Kılavuz, and Ahmet Yıldırım. Come, become a confessor, tell us who the real killers are. We cannot forgive you, but let the killers be revealed so that others do not die. You have to include the real culprits in the file. Justice should not just be written on the wall," while Sevda Ateş could not speak due to crying. Sevda Ateş only managed to say, "May God deal with them as He knows best. May God punish them all."

'THE DECISION YOU WILL MAKE HAS NO VALUE IN THE CONSCIENCE OF SOCIETY'

Complainant Selman Bozkurt stated that everything that needed to be said had been said and that he trusted the state and the panel.

Ateş family lawyer Şeyda Şahin pointed out that all their requests were rejected and asked, "If the decision is already made, why are we here today?"

Some of the complainants' lawyer, Fatih Güneş, also criticized the indictment and the prosecutor's opinion as follows:

"Is there any mention in the indictment and the opinion of why Sinan Ateş was killed? It says Sinan Ateş was a faculty member at Hacettepe University. Sinan Ateş was not Doğukan Çep's professor, so he wouldn't be killed for giving a low grade. Why is Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım not in this file? This indictment should have been returned. The decision you will make has no value in our eyes or in the conscience of society. This case will be overturned somewhere. We will not let this go."

Following a two-hour lunch break, the hearing continued as of 14:00. CHP Chairman Özgür Özel and Future Party Chairman Ahmet Davutoğlu also attended the hearing.

NO INVESTIGATION INTO THE EXPERT

At the beginning of the session, the Presiding Judge announced that the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office had decided not to initiate an investigation regarding the criminal complaint filed against the expert who examined the murder footage.

At the hearing, Ayşe Ateş's new lawyer, Hüseyin Kaya, emphasized that from the rejection of the requests for further investigation, they understood that for the court, this murder had been clarified and resolved.

Finally, the lawyer for the complainant Selman Bozkurt, Tuğrul Coşkun, stated that the defendants also wanted to kill Bozkurt, and therefore requested that they be punished for premeditated murder, and the court moved on to the defendants' defenses.

Hitman Eray Özyağcı made the following defense:

"My goal was to wound; if my intent had been to kill, I would have run while they were going to the mosque, shot Sinan Ateş in the back and head, and fled at high speed. I fired three shots, aiming for his feet. I swear to God, my intention was not to kill. I accept my crime, I never denied it; but I want justice. I do not want to be judged according to words and perceptions."

When a person sitting in the complainant section shouted at Eray Özyağcı, "You scoundrel, you should have faced him like a man!", the Presiding Judge ordered that this person be removed immediately, using force if necessary, and that a report be filed.

Regarding this reaction, Eray Özyağcı addressed the Presiding Judge, saying, "I didn't say anything out of respect for you. Otherwise, I am not afraid," and then continued his defense as follows:

"News was coming out that Sinan Ateş was a man of cause, an intellectual, an academic. What happened? It turned out that he had journalists beaten, sent a hitman disguised as a pizza delivery man, and met with his FETÖ-member sister and a hundred fugitive FETÖ members. There is more to this. The claim that I am a drug dealer is a slander. They have been tearing me apart for 2 years. Everything that could be said has been said."

Finally, Özyağcı reacted to politicians and the media with the following expressions:

"This is not the headquarters of the DEM Party. What are you doing in the court where we are being tried? These words of mine are for the political apparatuses, the masters who put the leash around their necks, and the so-called journalists who work with them. I am not afraid of anyone. Let those who seek the truth follow the arrow shot by falsehood."

Vedat Balkaya, who took hitman Eray Özyağcı to the crime scene by motorcycle, also denied the witnesses' claim that the motorcycle's license plate was covered, saying, "I did not think that a simple debt-credit issue would lead to such a tragic end. That's why we didn't feel the need to cover the license plate."

While defendant Suat Kurt stated that he did not accept the accusations in the prosecutor's opinion and had no request for release, instigator Doğukan Çep said the following:

"I may be guilty, but everyone is equal. Our requests are not being met, it is not being investigated. I don't have much to say. I respect every decision you will make. I wish that the decision would be based on facts, not perceptions. My conscience is clear before God. I did not send anyone to Ankara to kill. If I had sent them, I would have said so. I said, 'Shoot him in the leg a few times.' They don't have to believe me, they are in pain. You may not believe me either, but I did not send Eray to kill anyone. I have shot terrorists and DHKP-C members until this age, I don't care about anyone. I am not responsible for Eray committing another crime of his own volition."

Former Ülkü Ocakları executive Tolgahan Demirbaş denied all accusations against him, stating that the Police, prosecutors, and the criminal judgeship of peace did not direct the instigator accusation at him, and said, "There is a lot of gossip, no evidence. I am a prisoner of assumption."

Demirbaş, who accused the investigation prosecutors Durdu Özer and Durmuş Ali Kaya, as well as Halktv and some journalists, also spoke about Ayşe Ateş as follows:

"According to what she said, her husband said he would be killed. Someone who knew this should have gone and given a statement running, even before waiting for the funeral. If she didn't do this, or if the prosecutors didn't call her, it is grave. Ayşe Ateş's statement was taken exactly 4 months and 17 days later."

'DİLAN POLAT'S LAWYER IS DEFENDING HER, YET TALKS ABOUT JUSTICE HERE'

Unconvicted defendant Zekeriya Asarkaya, in whose house Suat Kurt, who is accused of helping hitman Eray Özyağcı escape, stayed, repeated that he had no knowledge of the murder and was deceived, saying, "They came to my house for a debt-credit issue. They shot a man and left. I am innocent. Yes, I provided a place; but they didn't tell me they came to kill a man."

Unconvicted defendant Hakan Saraç, who mediated Suat Kurt's stay at Zekeriya Asarkaya's house, also said, "Suat Kurt said he would stay for one night. If I knew they would do this, why would I ruin Uncle Zekeriya's life?" Hakan Saraç also said the following about Ayşe Ateş's lawyer, Hüseyin Kaya:

"Dilan Polat's lawyer is defending her. Yet here, he talks about justice."

Aşkın Mert Gelenbey, one of the police officers who brought hitman Eray Özyağcı from Istanbul to Ankara, claimed that Özyağcı was a childhood friend and that he brought him to Ankara after he said his grandfather was sick. The other police officer, Murat Can Çolak, repeated that he slept throughout the journey and said, "How can a sleeping person help with a murder?"

'THERE ARE STILL HONEST PEOPLE IN THE HSK'

Lawyer Serdar Öktem, whose file the Prosecutor requested to be separated because he did not give the password to his phone, stated that the discretion for separating his file belonged to the Court and accused the investigation prosecutors, saying, "I complained about the prosecutors. There are still honest people in the HSK (Council of Judges and Prosecutors), an investigation was launched against those prosecutors."

Defendant Emre Yüksel, Deputy Chairman of Ülkü Ocakları, also denied the accusations against him and said that he definitely did not take Eray Özyağcı to Istanbul, and that this was voiced by some slanderers, FETÖ-member traitors, political opportunists, and journalist hacks.

After the 18 defendants presented their defenses, today's session was concluded to continue tomorrow.

As the defendants were being taken out of the courtroom, Eray Özyağcı was seen making a trigger gesture with his hand at Murat Ağırel and Timur Soykan.

News Source: 12punto