Confession by Witness: What I Said About İbrahim Gökçek was Distorted

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Indicating that he was threatened with being arrested if he did not depose, witness İ.İ. has stated that he signed the statements under pressure in the lawsuits filed against Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD) and Grup Yorum band. He has added that he wants to withdraw his statement.

The person named İ.İ. gave a 20-page deposition in 2017 and identified 43 people who were shown to him. These statements given by İ.İ. were used as evidence in lawsuits where several people were put on trial and penalized for being members of an organization.

Among these lawsuits was also the one filed against İbrahim Gökçek, the bass guitarist of Grup Yorum who lost his life on May 7.

Sending a letter to the attorneys of defendants after leaving Turkey for abroad, İ.İ. has said that "he deposed to the police under torture and he made his deposition under the direction of the police." İ.İ. has requested the withdrawal of his statement from the file.

He also deposed about İbrahim Gökçek

In the indictment issued against seven people, including İbrahim Gökçek, who lost his life two days after he ended his death fast on its 323rd day, the statements of İ.İ. were also cited as evidence. Gökçek was standing trial at the İstanbul 37th Heavy Penal Court and he was charged with "establishing and leading an organization."

In his letter, İ.İ. has written that when he deposed to the police, he "only said that Gökçek was playing the baglama [a musical instrument] and there was no cosmic room in İdil Cultural Center, but his words were distorted":

"...For instance, they asked me who İbrahim Gökçek was. I told them that he was playing the baglama in Grup Yorum. The whole Turkey already knows it. They asked, 'Would he enter the "Cosmic Room"?' And I said that there was never a cosmic room in İdil Cultural Center, I said that I didn't see it."

"There was always an attempt to create a perception out of my statements. For instance, they tried to create a perception like 'İbrahim Gökçek is the baglama player of Grup Yorum, he would enter the room where not everyone could enter.' When I saw the statement... Because they wouldn't show it to me any longer, they made me sit across them. When I saw the final version of the statement, I saw that everything that I said and argued was distorted. They even added things that I hadn't said..."

By the way, even though İ.İ. has claimed that Gökçek used to play the baglama, he was, in fact, the bass guitarist of Grup Yorum.

Petition by Selçuk Kozağaçlı to court

Standing trial in the lawsuit filed against the ÇHD lawyers, arrested lawyer Selçuk Kozağaçlı has submitted a petition to the 2nd Penal Chamber of the İstanbul Regional Court of Justice and underlined that several evidence, like this recent letter by İ.İ., that they have added to the file is a clear indication that the right of defense and fair trial is violated:

"In examining anonymous witness statements that do not have the characteristics of evidence in the concrete sense and is not supported by any other concrete evidence, we respectfully request that the court also consider new witness statements recounting pressure and directions."

In the petition submitted by lawyer Selçuk Kozağaçlı to the court, the remarks of İ.İ. have been summarized as follows:

"He indicates that he was battered while being detained; it was implied that he would be arrested if he did not depose and, by giving examples from other people, it was hinted that he would be killed and his fiance would get harmed; his deposition was taken in two days, his statements were distorted by the law enforcement, he was reprimanded when he tried to intervene and the lawyer made no interventions in response; he was constantly threatened in custody, he was psychologically tortured and battered; he was made to sign the statement without reading it and he signed it because he thought that he would be further pressured and tortured if he did not; his statements were falsified and several unfounded things were added to them." (AS/SD)