Ümit Özdağ faces the judge... His brother and lawyer Savaş Özdağ explains the preparations before the hearing

Zafer Party Chairman Ümit Özdağ, who has been held in custody at Marmara Closed Prison since January 21, is appearing before the judge once again. Ahead of the hearing to be held in Silivri, his brother Mehmet Savaş Özdağ, who is also serving as his lawyer, spoke to 12punto. Özdağ stated, "The audience entering the courtroom, and through this, the entire public, will have the opportunity to see what kind of injustice has been done to Ümit Hoca."

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Ümit Özdağ faces the judge... His brother and lawyer Savaş Özdağ explains the preparations before the hearing

Hazal Güven - 12punto.com.tr

Zafer Party Chairman Ümit Özdağ, who was detained in Ankara on January 20 and arrested on January 21 due to his remarks regarding President Erdoğan during his speech at the Zafer Party Provincial Chairmen Consultation Meeting in Antalya on January 19, is appearing before the judge once again.

The court, which prepared the indictment months after his arrest and saw Özdağ appear before the judge for the first time on June 11, exactly 142 days after he entered prison, had requested a sentence of 1.5 to 4 years and set the next hearing date for June 17.

Mehmet Savaş Özdağ, who is both Özdağ's brother and his lawyer, made statements to 12punto before the hearing. Stating, "The defense we will present will refute all accusations against Ümit Hoca," Savaş Özdağ used the following expressions:

'OUR DEFENSE WILL TAKE SHAPE'

"As the public is aware, at the end of the hearing on June 11, the court gave Ümit Hoca's lawyers a 6-day grace period to present their final defense. This period is actually not standard (normal, usual, customary). It could have been a longer period, but we have used these 6 days efficiently. We have worked diligently and meticulously. We are currently going over it one last time, making final touches. Tomorrow, this work will be executed before the court at the hearing. We will make a presentation with visual aids. That was our main goal anyway. Because our defense will take shape with this visual contribution. Ümit Hoca had already made his main defense on the 11th, but after the prosecutor's opinion, he is planning to make a defense of a few pages against the opinion, in all likelihood."

'ACQUITTAL IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN RELEASE'

"Tomorrow will likely also be a verdict hearing. Ümit Hoca's release is undoubtedly important, but what is more important than his release is his acquittal of this crime. As his defense counsel, we are making a special effort for this. Because Ümit Hoca absolutely has nothing to do with the alleged crime. Tomorrow, not only the court, but the audience entering the courtroom, and through this, the entire public, will have the opportunity to see what kind of injustice has been done to Ümit Hoca."

'THEY TRIED TO IMPLICATE ÜMIT HOCA'

"They will also witness how the information provided by the Police misled the courthouse. It will emerge with the visuals we will present. In the defense on the 11th, Ümit Hoca had already underlined this repeatedly, which is this: There is a report kept by the Kayseri Police during the events that took place between June 30 and July 2, 2024. This was the real report. It has the signatures of 12 security bureaucrats at the bottom. There is no assessment regarding either Ümit Hoca or the Zafer Party in this report. There is no allegation or accusation directed at Ümit Hoca or the party in any way. As such, when it was understood that a detention order could not be issued for this crime regarding our client Ümit Hoca, who was detained on the allegation of 'insulting the President,' they wanted to link Ümit Hoca to an act regulated under 'inciting the public to hatred or hostility or insulting' within the existing investigation, without opening a separate investigation, in a manner clearly contrary to procedure. To do this, they tried to implicate the Zafer Party and Ümit Hoca regarding the events that took place in Kayseri between late June and early July 2024.

For this purpose, the prosecutor's office, violating procedure, contacted the Kayseri Police directly without contacting the prosecutor's office in Kayseri and requested a report regarding those events. It is understood that this report was commissioned. Because the Police did not send the original report. They prepared a report within 2 hours on January 21, 2025. It is seen that they wrote that report by completely violating the regulations regarding the preparation of such reports. It also has no signature at the bottom. It is already clear how it should be prepared. It is clear that those who prepared the report are aware of this, which is why they do not include a signature. It is understood that they are afraid of the responsibility that may arise, and in that report, they make accusations against Ümit Hoca and the Zafer Party from behind a desk regarding events that happened 6 and a half months ago. The defense we will make tomorrow will refute these."

News Source: Hazal Güven