Sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in prison: Reasoned decision in Ahmet Özer's 'City Consensus' case

The reasoning behind the 6-year and 3-month conviction handed down to Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer in the trial publicly known as the "City Consensus Case" has been released. The case of Özer, who remained in custody for approximately 9 months, was concluded by the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court.

Following the release of the reasoned decision, one of Ahmet Özer's lawyers, Hüseyin Ersöz, made a written statement on the social media platform X.

"EVIDENCE IN HIS FAVOR WAS IGNORED"

Arguing that the decision is unlawful, Ersöz said, "Esenyurt Mayor Prof. Dr. Ahmet Özer had remained in custody for approximately 9 months during the process known publicly as the 'City Consensus Case.' In the trial held at the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court, a conviction was issued against him 'unlawfully.' The court has now released its reasoned decision. In the decision, we witnessed that all of the 'evidence in his favor' collected throughout the entire trial process was ignored."

"ONLY 3 PAGES"

Ersöz stated that the majority of the 121-page reasoned decision consists of the indictment, the prosecutor's opinion, and the defense statements. Explaining that the first 43 pages are the indictment and the opinion on the merits, and pages 43-86 are Ahmet Özer's defense statements, Ersöz noted that the subsequent sections contain secret witness testimonies and evidence in his favor that was added to the file later. Ersöz said, "Pages 86-99 consist of secret witness testimonies, while pages 100-116 consist of evidence in his favor that entered the file as a result of the Court's correspondence. 'Pages 116-119 are the Court's assessment,' and pages 119-121 consist solely of the verdict section. In summary, the Court's assessments forming the basis for the conviction are 'only 3 pages'!"

In the remainder of his statement, Ersöz argued that the court based its verdict on secret witness accounts and that the contradictions regarding these statements, which were repeatedly raised during the hearings, were not taken into account. Stating that official correspondence in his favor received from public institutions was excluded from the assessment, Ersöz noted that the decision was established based on "assumptions" and "hypotheses." Emphasizing that the necessary legal conditions for the charge of membership in an organization were not met, Ersöz evaluated the conviction as a serious problem in terms of Ahmet Özer's legal security.

News Source: 12punto