Prosecutor Claims The Coup Diaries Must Be Investigated

The Prosecutor of the 2nd Court of First Instance of Bakırköy has appealed the acquittal of Alper Görmüş, who was tried for the charge of “insult and slander” for publishing a story about coup plans in Turkey from the diaries of the retired navy admiral Özden Örnek.

Emphasizing that Görmüş has the right to prove his allegations according to article 39 of the Constitution and article 127 of the Law 5237 of the Turkish Penal Code, prosecutor Süleyman Aydın made the following comments in his statement:

“According to these arrangements, when there is public good in clarifying particulars of an accusation, the accused has the right to prove his/her allegations. It is clear that there is public good in proving the incident that is the subject of our case and therefore the accused has the right to prove his allegations…” 

Görmüş: The Prosecutor’s arguments are appropriate and pleasing

The Court had dismissed the request by the lawyers and Prosecutor Aydın to bring to the court the document by the Police department that showed the diaries with excerpts about a coup planning were in fact written using Adm. Özden’s computer on the grounds that the elements of the crime had not materialized and thus acquitted the journalist on April 11, not leaning towards an investigation to show whether or not the diaries were real.

In his petition of appeal, Prosecutor Aydın stated that this was the most important evidence of the case and there is public good in presenting it. During the trial, the prosecutor had also wanted to expand the scope of the trial.

Alper Görmüş, who started writing for the newspaper Taraf after the periodical Nokta was shut down because of the pressure developed following the law suit against Görmüş, said in the internet site medyakronik.com that the Prosecutor’s arguments are appropriate and pleasing.

Alper Görmüş was tried for publishing in Nokta a story in March 2007 based on the excerpts from Adm. Örnek’s diary suggesting that a number of former commanders had plotted two coups to overthrow the elected Justice and Development government in 2004. Özden had denied the charges and filed an insult and slander suit against Görmüş.

No legal action has been taken against the commanders accused of making coup plans against the government, even though a police report had confirmed the authenticity of the diaries. (EÖ/EZÖ/TB)