Gezi trial | Judgement to be handed down on April 25

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At the sixth hearing of the Gezi retrial, the court board was expected to hand down its ruling. Following the statements as to the accusations of defendants Hakan Altınay, Mücella Yapıcı, Mine Özerden, Çiğdem Mater, Can Atalay, Tayfun Kahraman, Yiğit Ali Ekmekçi and Osman Kavala in the first session of the hearing, the hearing continued with lawyers' statements.

The court board ended the hearing at around 5 pm and ruled that it should continue with the statements of remaining lawyers on April 25, when the court board is now expected to give its ruling.

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Presiding judge limit defenses to 10 minutes

Taking the floor first among the lawyers today, Yiğit Aksekoğlu's lawyers Serdar Laçin and Aslı Kazan requested the acquittal of their client.

Afterwards, Hakan Altınay's lawyer Tora Pekin took the floor and said:

"We can talk as much as we want about justice, law, jurisprudence, human rights, but in this trial, justice and law have lost. Confidence in justice has been lost due to this and similar political cases.

"We are faced with a 657-pages long indictment that is impossible to read, and also far from having a consistent language. I do not think that the judges read this text line by line. Worse still, I think that the prosecutor who wrote the indictment did not read it, either.

"It would not be wise to proceed on the path embarked on by the FETÖ [which is held accountable for the coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016] suspect, fugitive former Prosecutor Muammer Akkaş, and the FETÖ suspect ex-police chief Nazmi Ardıç - their words cannot be trusted. If you trust them, you will make a liar out of yourself."

While Tora Pekin was making his statement as to the accusations, presiding judge Mesut Özdemir said that Pekin was given 10 minutes to speak, and he gave him 10 more minutes because he had used the initial period. Lawyers objected to the decision of the presiding judge.

"On one hand there is aggravated life imprisonment, and on the other there is a 45-minute defense. If you had evaluated the evidence, we would not have to talk so much anyway," said lawyer Pekin, adding:

"Whenever criticisms against the case, against you, and against the prosecution become more severe, you hinder the defense.

"In the December 17 verdict of non-prosecution, it is said that 'Justice is the last port of refuge for people.' [...] If your name is Cengiz Holding, Kolin, or Makyol, justice is your last port of refuge, but if your name is Mücella Yapıcı or Can Atalay, then it is aggravated life imprisonment. This is the summary of the case, there is nothing more to say."

Sönmez: İf you won't interrupt my defense...

After the presiding judge Mesut Özdemir made the defense finish, the lawyers of Atalay, Yapıcı and Kahraman said that they would speak in defense one after the other. Çiğdem Mater's lawyer, Hürrem Sönmez, said, "If you will not interrupt my defense, I will speak."

Lawyer Sönmez then made the following statement:

"You cannot divide the defense here into periods like 10 minutes and 15 minutes. If necessary, we can speak as defense all day long.

"My colleague Tora Pekin explained the re-evaluation situation very well. I don't want to explain it again. Your court gets bored of lawyers very quickly.

"More than 3 million people participated in the Gezi protests. My client is also one of them. The prosecutor's office says that she went out to the street to direct people.

"This claim is irrational, and it is also an insult to the will of the people who took to the streets to exercise their constitutional rights.

"If you are going to judge people for what they think, we will be ashamed of the judiciary. In fact, we have been feeling ashamed for a long time, but do you want to leave such a legacy to your children?

"What is on trial here is neither Osman Kavala nor Taksim Solidarity. The objection of the people to the government -despite pressure- is on trial here. You are judging the will of the people here."

Ruling to be handed down on Monday

Following the statement of Sönmez, Presiding Judge Mesut Özdemir ended the hearing. It will continue on Monday (April 25).

After the remaining lawyers make their defense on Monday, the court board will hand down its ruling. (HA/SD)