Former MP Bucak Sentenced to Jail

True Path Party (DYP) former Sanliurfa MP Sedat Edip Bucak has been found guilty of conspiracy to commit an offence and sentenced to 1 year 15 days imprisonment for his involvement in a criminal network ranging into the state, which was uncovered through a November 3, 1996 traffic accident in Susurluk.

Bucak, who was injured in the accident involving a Mercedes car and a truck colliding, was traveling together with Istanbul Police School chief Huseyin Kocadag, Abdullah Catli who was carrying a false identification in the name of Mehmet Ozbay and Gonca Us.

Neither he nor current DYP chairman Mehmet Agar who was named during the investigation into the Susurluk conspiracy gang could be tried for a time due to parliamentary immunity.

While Agar's immunity still continues, Bucak was charged in 2002 after losing his immunity for "setting up a gang in order to commit offences and possession of deadly weapons".

Bucak was originally pardoned for two of the offences he was charged with and acquitted on the conspiracy charges but the acquittal was overturned by the Court of Appeals leading to this retrial.

The court had decided that during the trial key witnesses including former Prime Minister Suleyman Demirel, Mehmet Agar, Tansu Ciller, Gen. Dogan Gures and Hasan Kundakci could submit their statements through fax without making any court appearances. (AO/TK/II/EU)