The hearing of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) case, in which 414 individuals, including 68 detainees and the CHP’s Presidential Candidate and IBB Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, are being tried, continued yesterday.
Businessman Murat Kapki, who had previously abandoned his statement of “effective repentance” by saying he was manipulated by the prosecution, took the floor. Kapki said, “After entering this place, an interim measure was placed on everything. We are about to enter our 16th month, and my family is suffering in misery. We cannot pay my children’s school fees. I request that my bank accounts be opened. A trustee has been appointed to our company; I want a salary to be allocated to my family.”
Following Kapki, Ceyhun Avşar, one of the detained defendants, took the floor and requested that the defendants be granted a 5-minute right of defence during the detention review to be held on 18 June.
‘IT WAS TO BE ABLE TO LEAVE’
Following Avşar, the defence of advertiser Serkan Öztürk commenced. Expressing that he had been waiting for 15 months to defend himself, Öztürk said, “Four religious holidays have passed, and I have missed four of my daughters’ birthdays. I reject all accusations against me. I have given five statements since I was taken into custody, and during the first three, I did not even have a lawyer present by my side. What I said in these statements of mine has been distorted; while I do not reject all of them, I do not accept these statements, I signed them without reading just to be able to leave that room. I believe that a person who has been lying in prison for 15 months in the face of accusations that rely on no concrete evidence is not a detainee, but a captive. For 446 days, my family has been made to suffer bitterly,” using the expression, “I also revolt against the prosecution that has made us experience these times.”
Saying, “Investigate through MASAK (Financial Crimes Investigation Board), find a single pierced penny. I am alleged to have become a safe, but you must be seeing my debt files. The safe is of no benefit to its own self,” Öztürk said, “On behalf of all my loved ones, I actually want their release. I am not a traitor to the homeland, I will not flee anywhere. First, I request my release, and subsequently, my acquittal.”
‘THEY SAID “INCLUDE INAN GÜNEY”’
Stating that he became enraged after the first statement of Murat Kapki, who rejected the effective repentance statement, was leaked to the press, Öztürk said that he wished to give an additional statement, but the prosecution did not summon him. Stating that his lawyer at that time was İsmail Mirsad Albayrak, who undertook the defence of five individuals who benefited from effective repentance, Öztürk used the expressions: “He told me, ‘You need to include İnan Güney. Say that it is effective repentance, they will summon you immediately.’ I wrote it, and they summoned me immediately. I am someone who has used the institution of effective repentance for his own benefit. I did not experience effective repentance.”
THE QUESTION OF ‘DID YOU NEVER LOOK?’
Following Öztürk’s defence, the cross-examination by the judge and prosecutor commenced. The presiding judge asked, “Did you never look at your statements?” Öztürk said, “My lawyers could not access my statements for a very long time. We have a complaint submitted to the Council of Judges and Prosecutors regarding this matter.” Referring to the fact that Murat Kapki, the owner of the statements that led to his trial, had asked him for a blessing, the detained Mayor of Beyoğlu, İnan Güney, directed the question, “Did you become İnan Güney’s safe?” Öztürk replied, “No one can make such an offer.”
Lawyer Vançin: Since the indictment relies solely on declarations, it holds the status of a declaration form in my eyes
Following the questioning, the defence of Serkan Öztürk’s lawyer, Uğur Vançin, commenced. Saying, “Not even a single question was asked regarding the crime for which he is detained,” Vançin said, “With copy-and-paste allegations, I could write an indictment of 10,000 pages too. It is not very difficult. Since this indictment relies solely on declarations, it holds the status of a declaration form in my eyes.”
Saying, “The prosecution is not an organ of oppression, it is an organ of investigation,” lawyer Vançin used the expressions, “When we look at the indictment, we cannot see that it has brought the truth to light.” Stating that Serkan Öztürk’s mother and father are cancer patients, Vançin said, “Do not permit justice to be shaken any further. We do not accept the accusations; we request release and acquittal.”
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled “Odadan çıkabilmek için imzaladım”, published in BirGün newspaper on June 9, 2026.
Kaynak: BirGün