Journalist Ahmet Altan, journalist Professor. Dr. Mehmet Altan and journalist Nazlı Ilıcak‘s retrial after the deterioration of the aggravated life sentence given by the Supreme Court of Appeals.
At the hearing, the prosecutor repeated his opinion between the sessions and demanded that the detained defendants Nazlı IIıcak and Ahmet Altan be sentenced to 5 years and 10 years of imprisonment for ”intentionally helping the armed terrorist organization, although not included in the hierarchical structure of the organization”. The defendant Mehmet Altan was acquitted. Other defendants Tuğrul Özşengül, Fevzi Yazıcı and Yakup Şimşek were asked to be imprisoned for 7.5 to 15 years for membership of an organization.”.
In her defense, Nazlı Ilıcak said, ilk As if we haven’t been tried for three years, the first claims have been repeated. ” She continued her word‘s with;
It is claimed that I work for a newspaper called Özgür Bugün, there is no such newspaper. I worked for the newspaper Bugün.
Turkey has gone through multiple coups but for the first time “media arm of the coup,” was invented. People who did not know each other were in the medya media arm of the coup Another invention is the application of the bil “intentionally helping armed terrorist organization without being a member” to journalists. Sırrı Süreyya Önder and academics were tried for “propaganda ve and the CC decided to violate it. Some of the allegations against me and Mehmet Altan coincide. When acquittal is demanded for him, the equality principle will be damaged if the program we have issued is charged for me.
With Eren Erdem’s release there is nobody left faced trial from 220/7
I filed a criminal complaint against OdaTV case while Zekeriya Öz was in office. Therefore, my interview with Oz cannot provide evidence that I support the terrorist organization. It is said that I made propaganda by sharing tweets of “Kaç saat oldu” and “Fuat Avni”. But the content of these tweets was not given to me Other accounts except for at Fuat Avni hesap were not associated with FETÖ. It is said that I sent some tweets at a time when it was known that the coup was made by FETÖ. A false assumption was not fully known on July 15-16-17. Moreover, my anti-coup tweets were ignored. My tweets should be evaluated with integrity. I disagree with the thesis that the coup is fictitious, and call for interlocking. Yet the Supreme Court of Appeals accepted criticism even for calling the coup “theater”.
With Eren Erdem’s release there is nobody left faced trial from 220/7
I did not knowingly, willingly commit a crime of charity, so I demand my acquittal. Even if you don’t make an acquittal, I demand my release. ” Beraat kararı vermezseniz dahi tahliyemi talep ediyorum.”
“If there was enough evidence about us, there would be no need for forcing evidence.”
Following the defense of Nazlı Ilıcak, Şükrü Tuğrul Özşengül made his defense by being connected with SEGBİS from Silivri Prison. Özşengül said: If there was enough evidence about us, no evidence of coercion would be needed. I have never had any discourse that praises, supports or advocates the organization. Let them not even sympathy. I criticized the accusation of students because of affiliation with institutions. Expressing the false does not mean being with FETÖ.
I did that, I listened to the voice of my conscience. I have exercised my freedom of opinion and expression that the Constitution gives me. I stayed in detention for 28 days without any procedure. At the end of 28 days, I was arrested in 5 minutes. As if my defense was never taken, the provision was established against me by adhering to the indictment.
The basic condition for punishing a crime is that the crime is based on a clear and unambiguous proof. Issues that would not constitute reasonable doubt in the file have turned into slander. It is claimed in the lend that we are hiding under the title of journalists ”. I spent 34 years at the Police Academy. I never said I was a journalist, I am an academician. I’ve worked with the police for 34 years, and you can’t get anything out of it? You can’t take a part of my life, leave a part of it, and judge. Our defenses and objections don’t effect the result in any way. Then why are we talking? Why did we hire a lawyer? The prosecution does not provide evidence of my allegations but merely interprets them. If only Mr. Prosecutor didn’t bother himself reading my defense, and read my writings and watched the programs I made.
“I’m being punished not my acts”
The President of the Court read the report of the health committee that Özşengül’s illness would not prevent his detention. Özşengül said that he had no insistence on being released and said:
The accusation of some of my words by tweezering is not opinion, but slander. I’m sorry that the ones who do the slander are the officers who get paid with my taxes. The articles I wrote are the chickpeas kernel next to those written in the newspapers today. What people are writing. So I’m being punished not my acts. I defend myself in a civilized way. I didn’t commit corruption or theft. On the contrary, I have raised tens of thousands of people. No one can accuse me of being a traitor, a terrorist. I did a show on Samanyolu TV. I’m not from anybody’s congregation. I have nothing to offend. There is love of my country behind my complains not terrorism.
He repeated that the allegations against him were slander Öz and demanded his acquittal and completed his defense.
“I wish that my rights wouldn’t be abused”
After the search, Yakup Şimşek’s defense was started. Şimşek, who was connected to SEGBİS from Silivri Prison, said: I didn’t know that this defense would be my last words. I was going to ask for time, but you wouldn’t provide. I will still make a statement. I hope I don’t say anything against the opinion, and I hope my defense is not infringed. I met Ahmet Altan here. I read his books here. I’m proud to be tried in the same file as her.
It’s unfair for a world-wide author like him to be in this file. The prosecutor’s opinion was communicated to me on Friday. There is only one difference from the indictment 3 years ago: The prosecutor who prepared the indictment wants me to be punished for the coup and the prosecutor who prepared the opinion is punished for membership of an armed terrorist organization.
“I once again reject these rotten evidence before you”
I’ve got five alleged evidence against me. The first is that I worked for Zaman. I’ve worked in Zaman and I’m proud of it. Zaman Newspaper’s shares were purchased after December 17-25. They were not arrested, even tried. The second evidence is the account in Bank Asia. Did I set up and open Bank Asya? The state did this. Third evidence is HTS records. I had a phone record with seven people who were said to be members of the organization. How long has it been a crime to talk to people on the phone? When those 7 people were declared members of the organization? If this is a crime, I met these people not only on the phone, but in person. Fourth evidence is the so-called organizational document. They detained me in my father’s house in Trabzon. They also seized five Said Nursi’s books while detaining them. They don’t belong to me, but they’re still books. These books are in my room right now. With the permission of the prison administration. Fifth evidence commercials; If you had followed our demands and watched once, you would see that there was nothing criminal in the commercial. You’d see that baby was two years old, not nine months old. The paragraph attributed to the charge of the organization is five lines. Once again I refuse these rotten evidence.
Ahmet Altan, who is connected to SEGBIS from Silivri Prison, said he will answer the question there is no violation of the CC, which the court president directed to Nazlı Ilıcak. Saying that the AYM’s ’no violation” decision contradicts Mehmet Altan’s decision in many ways, Ahmet Altan said, “The president of the court reveals this with opposition commentary. The ECHR has not yet decided ”. Altan continued with the words.
“I read an opinion in which a prosecutor confessed that he had committed the offense against the accused”
“For the first time in my life, I read a opinion in which a prosecutor confessed that he had committed the offense against the accused. The prosecutor claims that I am “declaring that the coup will take place” on 15 July. This is a lie. I do not have such a statement and there is no document in this file that I have made such a statement. According to the prosecutor, if someone knows that there will be a coup d’etat necessarily with the coup. That’s clear. Well, then what does he say? ”At a time when the possibility of an armed coup was seen as highly probable”. So before July 15th, there was a possibility of a strong blow. And the prosecutor saw the possibility of the coup and knew. I would like to ask that the prosecutor says that it is not possible to know the possibility of a coup without the unity of action with the putschists: Which coup d’état did you find out that there was a possibility of a coup? Why didn’t you start an investigation when you knew there was a possibility of a coup? Why didn’t you share this information with other government officials?
“As the allegations and the proceedings are made without evidence, the prosecutor can easily say what he thinks ”
There is a grave crime that cost hundreds of lives. And perhaps we are confronted with a confession that says for the first time that this coup is known by someone in the state. The state should ask these questions to the prosecutor and his collaborators who confess to committing the crime before judging me with indiscreet charges. The accusation begins as Taraf Taraf newspaper, which is one of the media elements of the terrorist organization ”. After a prosecutor has written this sentence, he has to write the proof of this claim. Did he? Of course not. That’s not true, so there’s no proof. But now prosecutor can say what comes to his mind as judgements in Turkey are made without proofs.
“Will you also demand that I be burned in the squares and crucified?”
The next accusation is writing articles for haber.com whose owner is accused of terrorism. What is the article matter says that I am automatically guilty when the owner of the site that I write is accused? The prosecutor claims to have committed a coup crime because I said I “believe inin that the Balyoz coup was real. He considers it a crime to “believe” something outright. Is there a crime of “believing in something? It existed in the Middle Ages, it also there now apparently in Turkey. Will you also demand that I be burned in the squares and crucified? I surely believe that Balyoz seminar absolutely had a coup preparation.
The chief prosecutor of the Court of Cassation believes this, and he wanted the acquittal to be quashed. The former prime minister and ministers of the AKP believe this. They made it clear. Will you judge them for their beliefs? The mind, which claims that a coup attempt was made through news published six years before the initiative, has no connection with logic. A person named Nurettin Veren said that Alaattin Kaya provided the relationship between me and Fethullah Gülen and that I met with Kaya “often”. He didn’t even dare come to court. The testimony of a witness who did not come to court is not valid under our law. The prosecutor does not know this law? Or is he ignoring the law? Am I the only one who takes the law seriously? According to HTS records, I met with Alaattin Kaya on the phone once in 2010. He sent me two messages, the last one in 2012. Is this a ”frequent” interview? Are you judging anyone who has spoken to Alaattin Kaya for ten years? Or am I the only one on trial for talking to him once? A witness named Söğüt says that Alaattin Kaya brought me documents on 17-25 December 2013. I left Taraf Newspaper in 2012. How can Kaya bring me a document in 2013?
“How is it criticizing Erdoğan considered as helping the coupers?”
In my article titled “Absolute Fear”, I wrote that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan did not obey the constitution. I wrote it because he didn’t follow the constitution. He admitted that it was a de facto situation. That was right. Am I being tried for writing the truth? I’m probably on trial for this. Because you are afraid from the truth, the truth is exploding. Doğruları yazdığım için mi yargılanıyorum? At the end of the article “I think we are watching the last act of a bad play. The price is a bit heavy, but it’s still good to know it’s over. According to the prosecutor, these were the signs of the coup. This prosecutor believes that the AKP will not go out of business with a normal election. Let me give him the bad news once more; The AKP will go away from power. Istanbul elections showed everyone how this will be In my article titled “Montezuma”, according to the prosecutor, I made statements that the president seized power by violating the constitution. I don’t understand what kind of crime is making discourses. How is it criticizing Erdoğan considered as helping the coupers. Are you going to consider everyone who criticizes Erdogan is a coup? You seem to have such intention, but then you need to judge more than half of these people, neither your courtrooms nor prisons will be sufficient. If you decide to put someone in jail and you can’t find proof for it, you have no choice but to go crazy.
One of the executives of the terrorist organization ”I have spoken with Önder Aytaç. I don’t know if Aytaç is an executive or not. My question is simpler and clearer. When did I see him? 2007. In 2007, Önder Aytaç was an adviser to the AKP government and a teacher at the Police Academy.
He was looking for me to write for Taraf. I gave him the opportunity to write because I thought it might be interesting. But there is a continuation of this story that the prosecutor never mentioned. Önder Aytaç is the only author I have put an end to. I didn’t want him to write again because he defended the death penalty. Now I want to ask you a question. Have none of the prosecutors and judges on duty today met with judicial officers who were detained in 2007 or 2010? Didn’t they called one of them? Isn’t there a single prosecutor and a judge who spoke to them in time? Let’s look at the HTS records of all members of the judiciary. Also, let’s look at the ten-year HTS record of politicians in power today. Let’s see, how many times have those who have written to the indictments that says I often talked to Kaya, have spoken with whom in the last decade. You’re being very careless when you’re trying to blame me, and you’re making up crimes that could get you into trouble. Moreover, since you have written these allegations personally, all of them are considered confessions. I also have meetings with Ekrem Dumanlı whom I last talked in 2015. While I was the editor-in-chief of Taraf and Dumanlı was the editor-in-chief of Zaman. If the number of Ekrem Dumanlı boarding Erdoğan’s plane is less than the number of speeches I have made with Dumanlı, I will accept the charges. If not, what will you do? The prosecutor considered crime that Erkam Tufan Aytav, whom said to be the “organization manager”, to mention my name along with many writers in a speech he made with a third party as evidence of crime. CC stated in the decision that made for Mehmet Altan that this speech wasn’t aproof of crime.
After Ahmet Altan, Mehmet Altan began his defence; Altan said those in his defence:
While reading the opinion of Prosecutor Muhammed Ensar Bulutoğlu, who wants my acquittal, I would like to first mention a point that is very strange in terms of law. Prosecutor Constitutional Court General Assembly Decision, the European Court of Human Rights and the 16th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court with the decision of legally deemed to be garbage and the last hearing in the indictment, which I described as crazy nonsense, did not see as a problem the same decision to repeat the above judicial decisions. I really didn’t understand why. I couldn’t understand because even though he wanted to be forgotten now, the detention started with an accusation that was subject to humorists such as giving a lim subliminal message.. What happened with that lim subliminal message ’story? Furthermore, the 35-year-old indictment prosecutor Can Tuncay, who drafted the indictment and appointed to Izmir on Thursday night, ignored the confidentiality of the investigation and carried out an infamous perception operation against the person with unrealistic appeals. For example, he used as a means of staining a moratorium and shame aside from a very old dollar, one third of which was torn and out of circulation.
“I’m talking about someone who once attacked the law to take me into custody”
For example, on the pretext of a conference four years before his detention, he attempted to produce evidence with a report he had attached to two police officers at his disposal. He did not settle with this and made for forgery of documents as well. I’m talking about someone who attacked the law in times to take me into custody and stabbed my constitutional guarantees. The pointlessness that the prosecutor repeats in his opinion is the merits of such a prosecutor. Of course, many of these prosecutor-like people in the process. Who they are in the file, how they violate the constitution, how they ignore the law is clear in all nudity, but at least they are not the issue today.
“Priority of this gang has always been the constitution”
It is only necessary to ask everyone who is deliberately part of this persecution in this process: ‘If you are tried one day, would you like to be the counterpart of the same lawlessness and this persecution?’. I would like to remind you that all the disgrace I have listed about the indictment prosecutor has been documented and forwarded to the HSK. Even though all of our complaints have been put before HSK for the time being, when the rule of law comes back, this hostility towards the people of the country will be evaluated properly in terms of law. I’m sure of this. I’m sure that the prosecution of the court prosecutor Muhammed Ensar Bulutoğlu’nun each of the accusations by the high judicial organs, tattered line by line, do not repeat the indictment, instead of the General Assembly, the European Court of Human Rights and the 16th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Appeals. and that it does not emphasize the decisions of the judicial process. That’s not what was spoken extensively. If he had succeeded, his opinion would have been more normal, more meaningful and of course much more legal. During this process, I have witnessed a will that actually wants to ignore the constitutional system and is actually making efforts within the state. The primary goal of this gang has always been the constitution. They wanted to ignore the constitutional provisions in a very dangerous way. Against me, the General Assembly Decision of the Constitutional Court binds everyone in accordance with Article 153 of the Constitution.
I find it dangerous in this respect for the prosecutor to pass this decision quickly and repeat a foolish indictment fallacy by extending it strangely. In this context, we had another very serious legal scandal during the hearing. The person who declared himself involved in the case on behalf of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and later understood to be the deputy chairman of the AKP Beylikdüzü district could ignore Article 153 of the constitution and ask for a punishment aggravated life sentence for me. Moreover, they did so by saying that he represented the legislation.
I would also like to remind you that the status of the President of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Mustafa Şentop, who was also acquainted at a time when I thought he was defending democracy, was a ‘professor of constitution stat. For me, no participant can intervene at this stage of the case was also ruled in the decision of the 16th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court. According to the Constitution, no institution related to me has the right to participate in the case. The court should also obey the constitution and decide that no institution can be found here as a participant for me. On this occasion, the 16th Chamber of the Court of Cassation must also be overwhelmed by the institutions that violate the constitution.
“Even though I was paid compensation, I still suffer.”
That part stresses “When the Court finds a violation, the respondent State is not only obliged to pay the indemnity provided for under Article 41 of the Convention, but also to take individual and / or – if necessary – general measures in domestic law to eliminate the violation found by the ECtHR and to find that the applicant would have been found to have had not been violated. to compensate for the impact of the violation to the nearest” Although I have been paid compensation, I still suffer. However, urgent remedy is both a constitutional obligation and a case-law of the Supreme Court. While this is very clear, I have to remind you about the benim participant. I also demand that this very important emphasis of the Court of Cassation should not be forgotten and put in the record. It is also among my demands that my acquittal be decided at this hearing under any circumstance if it happens that the hearing is not decided or that the hearing is postponed. Finally, I want to be acquitted in accordance with the decision of the Supreme Court and my six dollars including my discarded , one third of which has disappeared, out of circulation and immorally abused dollar and the digital materials I have not received yet to be given back. ”
Following the defense of Mehmet Altan, the defendants’ lawyers made statements. Nazlı Ilıcak’s lawyer Kemal Ertuğ Derin said that the claims that Ilıcak helped the organization did not reflect the truth. The lawyer Derin stated that the conviction had to be based on certain evidence and demanded the acquittal of Nazlı Ilıcak in accordance with the amendments in the judicial package.
Şükrü Tuğrul Özşengül’s lawyer Mustafa Bal stated in his statement that the data is not connected with the truth, and the manipulated evidence is attempted to go to the conclusion ”. Bal continued his words as follows: “Tanks are coming out” he said on the programme. He said everyone saw it. Expressing what you see cannot mean “reference statement”. One of Dostoevsky’s sentences can make up a crime, but if you read the book, a literary work emerges. Here, too, Özşengül’s sentences are tweezed, not taken into account. The integrity of the evidence has been corrupted, and evidence has been requested from the crime. Şükrü Tuğrul Özşengül has been victimized by your court. ”
Özşengül’s lawyer Bal completed his defense with expressing he had gone through twice angiography and surgery, and three heart vessels changed and demanded the acquittal of his client.
Figen Albuga Çalıkuşu, the lawyer of Ahmet Altan and Mehmet Altan, said in his statement: “We have a constitution. The nation has transferred the right to sovereignty to the judiciary in order to use it in accordance with the constitution. On 16 June 2016, a prosecutor in Ankara wrote in his indictment that there could be a coup. But it is as if Ahmet Altan, the only state official, is on trial for failing to prevent it. Your court did not want to take the decision of AYM’s Mehmet Altan even in the record and rejected the requests for release. Today, he asked Ahmet Altan about the ’no violation CC decision taken by the CC by majority vote. Isn’t it a dilemma? Today, when I look at the prosecutor’s opinion, the crime is a journalistic activity. The distance between terror and thought is limited. There was a need, the anti-terrorism law was amended and thought and news were no longer criminal. Ahmet Altan must directly benefit from legal reform Article 210 of the CMK provides that if an accusation is based on a witness’s statement, that witness is heard at the hearing. Neither Nurettin Veren nor his witness named Söğüt were heard at the hearing. Söğüt testified the day before the hearing without our knowledge. What we need when talking about “spiritual algebra” is material, concrete evidence. Not a case in this file. A journalist writer who has expressed his thoughts has been held for 1138 days. I also demand the acquittal of Ahmet Altan, emphasizing that there is a change in the anti-terror law. Those who follow this case should not suffer from a sense of justice. Hüseyin Avni Mutlu and Hüseyin Çapkın not redeemable discounts, I demand the same for my client as well, ” she said. Lawyer Çalıkuşu, in terms of Mehmet Altan, declared her unconstitutionality on behalf of the Turkish Grand National Assembly and requested her client’s acquittal in accordance with the Supreme Court decision.
After the lawyers completed their defense, the court gave a 20-minute break to the hearing. After the break, the court heard the final words. Nazlı Ilıcak spoke first. Ilıcak, “220/7 yarg reminds me that all journalists tried or released pending trial or evacuated, the power will bring an arrangement for 75 years, at least I want you to decide my release,” she said. While Şükrü Tuğrul Özşengül demanded acquittal and evacuation, Yakup Şimşek said, “The accusation against me for membership of an armed terrorist organization is a slander. If you make a decision outside the acquittal, your door will be knowked unfairly in future as well, “he said. Fevzi Yazıcı, unfairly tried for three years, in case of conviction that it would be a “baby case” more, said the history should be learned. Ahmet Altan, while requesting compliance with the law; Mehmet Altan, acquitted in accordance with the decision of the Supreme Court.
Court unclosed the decision
The court paused after the last words. Following the search, the court decided to acquit Mehmet Altan and Nazlı Ilıcak to be sentenced to 8 years and 9 months in prison for ”helping the FETÖ terrorist organization ve and to be released by judicial control. Ahmet Altan was also sentenced to 10 years and 6 months of imprisonment for yardım helping the organization ve and was released. Fevzi Yazıcı and Yakup Şimşek were sentenced to 11 years and three months and Şükrü Tuğrul Özşengül to 12 years in prison.