Again no Releases in OdaTV Trial

The tenth hearing of the Oda TV trial stretched well into the evening and was closed by the Istanbul 16^th High Criminal Court at 11.10 pm on Friday night (27 January). The court decided to keep all detained defendants in prison. The next hearing is scheduled for 12 March.

13 defendants are tried in the scope of the Oda TV case: eleven detained defendants Prof Yalçın Küçük, former Chief of Police Hanefi Avcı, author Müyesser Yıldız, journalists Nedim Şener, Ahmet Şık, Soner Yalçın, Şükrü Doğan Yurdakul, Barış Terkoğlu, Barış Pehlivan, Muhammet Sait Çakır, Coşkun Musluk, Müyesser Uğur and the two un-detained defendants İklim Kaleli Bayraktar and Ahmet Mümtaz İdil.

The court board gave the following decisions:

* The criminal record of Yalçın Küçük is going to be obtained;

* An expert report will be requested from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) for the identification of visual records;

* The indictment and the minutes of the trial about the underground Ergenekon organization (charged with the attempt to overthrow the government) shall be obtained;

* The request of defendant Hanife Avcı to determine the e-mail traffic was accepted;

* A warrant shall be written to the prison administration to enable the detained defendants to use the internet;

* The decision about witness proceedings related to Nedim Şener and Sabri Uzun will be given after their cross-examinations;

* All detained defendants remain in prison;

* Doğan Yurdakul will be transferred to the Mehmet Akif Ersoy Heart Hospital after his health report was presented to court at the Friday hearing;

* The next hearing was set for 12 March at 10.00 am.

Furthermore, TÜBİTAK submitted a report prepared by five experts to court related to allegations that certain documents had been transferred to computers via a virus.

Lawyer Tugay Topbaş presented the defence for his client Ahmet Mümtaz İdil.

Bayraktar presented speech of defence

In accordance to Article 200 of the Criminal Procedure Law (CMK) (possible exclusion of the accused from court during the interrogation), the defence of Bayraktar, the other defendant who is not in detention, only started after the other defendants had left the court room despite the fact that neither Bayraktar nor his lawyer made a related request.

The other defendants as well as the audience were asked to leave the court room before Bayraktar's statement was taken.

This decision was criticized by the lawyers. Bayraktar stated in his defence speech that he had talked to Soner Yalçın only twice on the phone and that he talked to him directly just once. He claimed to have seen Barış Pehlivanoğlu for the first time at court.

Bayraktar denied to have made any allegations regarding Deniz Baykal, the former chairman of the Republican Peoples' Party (CHP). He said that the telephone records were published intentionally in the newspapers after 44 days.

Bayraktar also disputed allegations regarding blackmailing Baykal and stated that no-one form Oda TV had given him any orders regarding Baykal.

Mentioning the sentence "I sowed the seeds and now I wait", Bayraktar explained, "I meant an interview I wanted to do with Olcay Baykal".

After a one-hour intermission, defendants Küçük, Yalçin, Terkoğlu and Pehlivan had a say even though they were not able to comment on Bayraktar's defence.

Terkoğlu criticized the proceedings. He reminded the fact that the court decision of the previous hearing was announced on television 20 minutes before the judge had declared the decision at court.

Also Pehlivan voiced criticism: "You accepted to have the Oda TV computers investigated by TÜBİTAK weeks ago. Were they investigated? No. The expert report from the Bosporus University was sent to you in April. Did you send it to TÜBİTAK for an investigation? No? Is this justice? Dear Mr. Court President, you prolong the period of detention for all of us. Do you say the truth should emerge, whatever it is? No!"

Musluk: "Trial based on assumptions"

Defendant Musluk requested his acquittal and his release from prison. He claimed, "This trial is based on assumptions. The indictment takes Ergenekon and the leadership of Yalçın Küçük for granted. This is not legal. The crime of restricting freedom is being committed. The documents and files included in the indictment have no relevance at all. I can prove that".

Çakır put forward, "Two offences are being imputed: using a pseudonym and preparing a book to go into print. It is a paradox to talk about suspicion in the absence of evidence. All activities are legal. The accusation of organizational crime is the weakest allegation of the indictment. (...)"

Ahmet Şık: "I have no requests"

Nedim Şener claimed, "I wrote a book entitled 'Hrant Dink and the lies of the intelligence'. Because of that, the ones who showed negligence towards the murder put me here". Şener said that Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı who accused him and former police officer Sabri Uzun should be heard by the court. "I request my release because of my daughter and my wife", he said.

Ahmet Şık only said "I have no request" and sat down again.

Müyesser Uğur asked for permission to speak and indicated, "I am alleged of black propaganda. This kind of offence is not included in any legal provision. Would you explain that to me? You are not going to release us. Release Mr. Yurdakul at least; he is sick. I have no other request". (ÇT/NV/EKN)