Drawing: Murat Başol
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A witness in a case where dismissed police officers face "fabrication of evidence" charges said the officers had threatened him with his sister when he was in custody.
"They said it depends on me whether the child in my sister's womb would be born alive," Selçuk Aymaz said in his testimony at the İstanbul 33rd Heavy Penal Court.
During his detention, Aymaz said, he had demanded his lawyer but another one had come, and he had neither attended his interrogation nor talked to him in any way. The attorney had sat down with the officers to have tea, signed his statement without even reading it, and then left, said Aymaz.
The next hearing of the case where 18 lawyers from the ÇHD and the People's Law Bureau (HHB) are on trial will take place between November 7-11 at the courthouse in the Silivri Prison Complex on the outskirts of İstanbul.
The lawyers are on trial based on witness statements similar to the one mentioned. At the next hearing, the court is expected to announce its final verdict.
Request of recusal
In a petition they submitted to the court on October 3, the defense attorneys demanded Aymaz and other witnesses be heard at the hearing. However, the court rejected this request without citing a reason.
The lawyers then requested the recusal of the judge on October 11. This request has not yet been answered.
The İstanbul 18th Heavy Penal Court responded to the request today (October 14), asserting that such requests were intended to "prolong the trial."
Threats by the police
In the first petition demanding the investigation be expanded, the lawyers cited Aymaz's testimony about how the police had taken his statement.
"Selçuk Aymaz, who was heard as a witness at the court, stated that Serdar Bayraktutan had first threatened to include him in a case about the digital evidence, and then with her pregnant sister's life," says the petition.
Aymaz had given this testimony in a case of police officers who were dismissed because of being members of the "Fetullahist Terrorist Organization" (FETÖ) and faced charges of "fabrication of evidence."
Serdar Bayraktutan, whom he mentioned in his testimony, was the chief of the Anti-Terror Branch of the police.
The indictment of this case said it had been found that "a police officer named Ferdi Taşkaya was involved in the fabrication of evidence by giving money to the attorney who attended the interrogation in an envelope."
In their petition, the defense lawyers of the ÇHD case noted that the investigation into the HHB lawyers had been launched based on Aymaz's statement.
The ÇHD case
In the trial of lawyers from the Progressive Lawyers' Association (ÇHD), the court announced its ruling on March 20, 2019 and gave prison sentences ranging from 18 years, 9 months to 3 years, 1 month, 15 days. The 2nd Penal Chamber of the İstanbul Regional Court of Justice rejected the objections in October 2019 and sent the file to the Court of Cassation.
The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office of the Court of Cassation expressed the opinion that over 159-year prison sentences of all lawyers, except for the one given to lawyer Barkın Timtik, be upheld.
The letter of notification only indicated that the prison sentence of 18 years, 9 months given to Barkın Timtik for "establishing and leading an organization" as per the Article 314/1 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) should be overturned and he should also be penalized for "membership of an organization" like other lawyers.
The letter of notification issued by the prosecutor's office was sent to the 16th Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation.
ÇHD executive lawyer Ebru Timtik and ÇHD member lawyer Aytaç Ünsal went on a death fast in prison for their right to a fair trial. They were referred to hospital on July 30, 2020. Timtik lost her life on August 27 on the 238th day of her death fast. Ünsal ended his fast, he is now in treatment.
The Court of Cassation upheld all sentences, except for the ones given to lawyers Barkın Timtik, Selçuk Kozağaçlı and Ezgi Çakır.
Prison sentences upheld by the Court of Cassation on September 15, 2020:
Özgür Yılmaz: 13 years, 6 months
Behiç Aşçı: 12 years
Şükriye Erden: 12 years
Engin Gökoğlu: 10 years, 6 months
Aytaç Ünsal: 10 years, 6 months
Süleyman Gökten: 10 years, 6 months
Ayçan Çiçek: 9 years
Naciye Demir: 9 years
The merged case is still ongoing and the defendants against whom there is no final court ruling are still on trial. Barkın Timtik, Oya Aslan, Özgür Yılmaz and Selçuk Kozağaçlı are arrested.
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