Life for the Altan brothers and Nazlı Ilıcak

An aggravated life sentence has been passed on the six detained defendants including the Altan brothers and Nazlı Ilıcak who were on trial as part of the FETO investigation. Member judge Recep Kurt entered a dissenting opinion on the extension of Mehmet Altan’s detention. Judge Kurt, in the opinion he entered into the record, made reference to the Constitutional Court ruling and stated that he was of the opinion Mehmet Altan should be released.

Yayınlanma: 18.02.2018 - 13:35
Abone Ol google-news

The ruling has emerged in the trial in which seven defendants, six in pre-trial detention, stand charged of having prior knowledge of the 15 July coup attempt. At the hearing held by Istanbul Serious Crime Court No 26 in a building opposite the Silivri Penal Institution Campus, the detained defendants Nazlı Ilıcak, Ahmet Altan, Mehmet Altan, Fevzi Yazıcı, Yakup Şimşek and Şükrü Tuğrul Özşengül were sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment on the count of “violation of the constitution”.

The trial proceeded as follows:

Final comments were taken from the seven defendants, six of whom were in pre-trial detention, including journalists Ahmet Altan and Nazlı Ilıcak and academic Mehmet Altan. At the hearing held by Istanbul Serious Crime Court No 26 in a building opposite the Silivri Penal Institution Campus, the detained defendants Nazlı Ilıcak, Ahmet Altan, Mehmet Altan, Fevzi Yazıcı, Yakup Şimşek and Şükrü Tuğrul Özşengül were brought in. The non-detained defendant Tibet Murat Sanlıman and the lawyers were also in attendance at the hearing. At the hearing which commenced at around 10 am, Presiding Judge Kemal Selçuk Yalçın asked the defendants for their final comments.

FINAL COMMENTS
The detained defendant Nazlı Ilıcak said, “Court of Cassation and Constitutional Court case law show me to be innocent. The charges pressed against Mehmet Altan are similar to mine. Our situation has been held to be precedential under a Constitutional Court ruling. I wish for you to rule within the context of this case law and I ask to be acquitted.”

“I HAVE BEEN PROSECUTED HUNDREDS OF TIMES”
Ahmet Altan, in turn, said, “I have been prosecuted hundreds of times. I have been prosecuted in the military tutelage’s 28 February trials and the monstrosities named State Security Courts. I am before a court that is committing a constitutional crime for the first time. To the best of my knowledge, there has been no such thing in either Ottoman or Republican history. It will bode better for all to abandon this voyage through unlawful, illegal and unconstitutional acts.”

“THE RECOURSE OF ALL OF US IS UNIVERSAL LAW”
Mehmet Altan then said, “The Constitutional court has ruled that there were three counts of rights violation in the rationale that has kept me in prison for eighteen months thanks to the classification of secret evidence. Were the Supreme Court to try me I would be acquitted on three counts. The recourse of all of us is universal law. A rationale that conflicts with the Constitution kills the rule of law. The decision you are to pass over me will either benight the terrifying prospect at the verge of flouting the Constitution and turn it into a horror film or bring illumination with a sprinkling of hope.” The other defendants also asked for their acquittal, attesting to their innocence. The Presiding Judge took a recess to announce the judgment.

JUDGMENT ANNOUNCED
Journalists Mehmet Altan, Ahmet Altan, Nazlı Ilıcak Fevzi Yazıcı, Şükrü Tuğrul Özşengül and Yakup Şimşek, charged with having prior knowledge of the 15 July coup attempt, were sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment on the count of “the attempt through the use of force and violence to overthrow the order envisaged by the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey or to introduce another order in place of this order or to effectively implement this order.” With no reduction made to these sentences, Tibet Murat Sanlıman was acquitted. A member judge entered a dissenting opinion on the order extending Mehmet Altan’s detention.

DISSENTING OPINION FROM ONE JUDGE ON MEHMET ALTAN’S DETENTION
The judgment was passed unanimously apart from on Mehmet Altan’s detention. Member judge Recep Kurt entered a dissenting opinion on the extension of Mehmet Altan’s detention. Judge Kurt, in the opinion he entered into the record, made reference to the Constitutional Court ruling and stated that he was of the opinion Mehmet Altan should be released.


Cumhuriyet Tatil Otel Rezervasyon

En Çok Okunan Haberler