House arrest for İSKİ General Manager Şafak Başa! His testimony revealed: 'I am here because I applied the law'

İSKİ General Manager Şafak Başa, who was detained in the second wave of the investigation into the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) and placed under house arrest, responded to the allegation that he "delayed the work of firms that applied to them and demanded money by directing them to others" before the criminal judgeship of peace, stating: "I held a meeting (with the complainant) in front of everyone in my private office. Our relevant department, the Environmental Department, gave a negative opinion. Due to threats, I applied to the Governor's Office for protection. We are not the unit that issues licenses; we are the administration that provides opinions. The individuals' allegations are baseless. I am here right now because I applied the law," he said.

According to information obtained, Şafak Başa, in his statement to the Istanbul 1st Criminal Judgeship of Peace, which decided to release him under judicial control with house arrest, responded to the accusations that he "delayed the work of the applicant firm officials and, in this way, directed the firm officials to people who were allegedly the 'treasurers' of a criminal organization that supposedly existed to solicit bribes."

Stating in his testimony to the judgeship that he worked in accordance with the law, Başa explained that he did not meet one-on-one with the people who made allegations against him. Başa noted the following:

"I did not have the authority to sign. I called (the complainant) to the institution during the flag ceremony because pressure was being put on the administration. I held a meeting in front of everyone in my private office. Our relevant department, the Environmental Department, gave a negative opinion. Due to threats, I applied to the Governor's Office for protection. We are not the unit that issues licenses; we are the administration that provides opinions. The individuals' allegations are baseless. I am here right now because I applied the law. There is no such thing as slowing down work. It is out of the question for me to ever take bribes from these individuals or direct them to others for the purpose of taking bribes. I am a bypass patient; my chest pains have increased. I request that my condition be taken into consideration. I am innocent; I request to be released."

"A NEGATIVE OPINION WAS GIVEN SO THAT EXCAVATION WORK WOULD NOT BE DONE"

Başa's lawyer, Kerem Donat, reminded that his client is a public official and pointed out that permission must be obtained to investigate crimes allegedly related to his duties. His other lawyer, Orkun Can Kumkumoğlu, also addressed the complaint against Başa, stating, "The Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change gave a negative opinion so that excavation work would not be done in the area in question. İSKİ implemented this. These people (the complainants) are business expediters. My client is being subjected to slander," he said.

Lawyer Mehmet Ruşen Gültekin explained that his client was referred for arrest on the charge of "being a member of a criminal organization," but that not a single question was asked about this matter at the prosecutor's office.

Harun Fırat Ulusu, the lawyer for İBB Head of Environmental Protection and Control Department Adem Şanlısoy, who was released under judicial control, reported that "the complainant firm official İdris Özcelep told his client, following the detention of Ekrem İmamoğlu on March 19, 'Right now, due to the conjuncture, all conditions have been met. If you don't solve my business, I will file a complaint with the prosecutor's office, I will hurt you.'"

Çağlar Türkmen, a security guard for İBB President Ekrem İmamoğlu who was among those arrested, said, "In line with the decision taken by the security team, I taped over the cameras in every hotel I went to, if deemed necessary and appropriate, so that images of İmamoğlu would not be taken. There were jammers in the suitcases, I saw them with my own eyes," he said.

"I DID NOT GAIN ANY BENEFIT FROM THE MUNICIPALITY"

Cevat Kaya, the brother-in-law of Ekrem İmamoğlu's wife Dilek İmamoğlu, who was arrested, stated that he has been involved in trade for 40 years, has never committed a disgraceful crime, and has never victimized anyone, saying, "We are in the textile business. I am Dilek Hanım's brother, but I did not gain any benefit from the municipality in any way, nor did I act as an intermediary to secure business. I already have my own business. I may have sent a few messages to help our friends. That is all. I do not accept the accusations," he stated.

"IS BEING A FAMILY THE SAME AS BEING A MEMBER OF AN ORGANIZATION?"

Zeynep Ayten Gözdem Ongun, the wife of the arrested Media A.Ş. Chairman of the Board Murat Ongun, stated that she knew at most a few people from the İBB, saying, "Murat Ongun is my husband. Is being a family the same as being a member of an organization? I worked as a presenter on television channels, and finally, I started dealing with jewelry making, which is my hobby. I established my own company in 2022 and I am making sales. I have all kinds of invoices. I have no transactions without invoices or without input-output records," she said.

Zeynep Ayten Gözdem Ongun was also released with a judicial control decision of house arrest.

"A RUSSIAN OLIGARCH BUILDS AN ILLEGAL STRUCTURE AND IS NOT FOUND GUILTY, BUT WE ARE?"

Elçin Karaoğlu, the arrested İBB Bosphorus Zoning Manager, also said at the judgeship, "A Russian oligarch builds an illegal structure in Vaniköy and is not found guilty, but are we found guilty? I personally demolished the illegal buildings. I filed a criminal complaint with the prosecutor's office. We recorded everything. Am I here because I demolished this illegal structure? My conscience is clear. I do not understand what I am being accused of. No one gave me an unlawful order," she said.

In the second wave of operations targeting the İBB, 18 out of 52 people detained were arrested, while 34 people were released with judicial control decisions.

News Source: 12punto