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  • ANKARA: Indictment reading continues with low attendance

    Today's Zaman, Turkey
    Nov 1 2008


    Indictment reading continues with low attendance


    The sixth session of the trial of 86 suspected members of Ergenekon, a
    criminal network accused of plotting to overthrow the government, was
    held yesterday, with the prosecution continuing to read the massive
    indictment with the participation of fewer defendants and their
    lawyers compared to previous sessions.

    Only eight of the 40 suspects who were previously released pending the
    outcome of the trial showed up at the courtroom yesterday, showing a
    gradual decrease in the number of defendants and their lawyers
    participating in the sessions.

    Only one of the 46 suspects under arrest, Hayrettin Ertekin, did not
    attend the session due to health reasons.

    The makeshift courtroom inside Silivri Prison near Ä°stanbul was
    rather deserted in the previous session on Thursday as well, with 61
    of the suspects attending the trial. Families and relatives of a large
    majority of defendants did not come to watch the session, either. It
    was, however, claimed by lawyers and many observers on the first day
    of the trial that the small makeshift courtroom was not physically
    suitable to host a fair trial.

    Yesterday's session was devoted to the continuation of reading the
    massive indictment aloud like previous sessions and focused on the
    links between Ergenekon and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party
    (PKK). After some of the suspects' lawyers demanded earlier this week
    that the 2,455-page indictment be read out loud, the court began the
    time-consuming process. It is estimated that the process will take at
    least two or three more weeks. The prosecution has only been able to
    finish 443 pages of the indictment in the first five sessions spent
    reading it. Prosecutors read just the main headings of some parts of
    the indictment instead of reading it line by line upon the approval of
    lawyers.

    The Ä°stanbul 13th High Criminal Court is hearing the
    case. Among the 86 suspects are retired Gen. Veli
    Küçük, former İstanbul University Rector
    Kemal AlemdaroÄ?lu, lawyer Kemal Kerinçsiz, who is known
    for filing suits against intellectuals over their writings questioning
    or criticizing the state line on issues such as Armenian allegations
    of genocide, and retired Capt. Muzaffer Tekin. The session was also
    followed by reporters from Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun, one of the
    most widely circulated dailies in the world. Brief tension erupted
    between prosecutor Mehmet Ali Pekgüzel and Workers' Party
    (Ä°P) leader DoÄ?u Perinçek, after the prosecutor
    defined Perinçek as İP leader at the time he reportedly
    met with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ã-calan. "I was not the
    Ä°P leader then. You say the meeting took place in 1997. It was
    [in fact] in 1989. You will nearly say it occurred before Christ,"
    said Perinçek.

    Another moment of tension was observed between the presiding judge,
    Köksal Å?engün, and Oktay
    Yıldırım, a noncommissioned officer retired from
    the army. Prosecutors read a part from the indictment that alleged a
    hand grenade found in Yıldırım's house in
    Ã`mraniye in 2007, which set off the Ergenekon investigation, had
    the same serial number as those used in an attack at a café
    belonging to a man named Ä°brahim
    �iftçi. �iftçi, who was a suspect in the
    murder of secular academic Necip HablemitoÄ?lu and who is also
    suspected of links to Ergenekon according to the prosecutor, died in
    the attack in 2006.

    "No, they didn't have the same serial numbers," said
    Yıldırım, who was ordered by Köksal to
    limit his explanations to his defense. Köksal also warned
    another suspect, retired Capt. Muzaffer Tekin, to watch his words when
    he said that he was more honest and dignified than the judges.

    Ahmet Ã`lger, lawyer for Oktay Yıldırım and
    retired Maj. Zekeriya Ã-ztürk, claimed the Ä°stanbul
    Police Department's counterterrorism unit currently has a list of
    2,500 people to be taken into custody as part of the Ergenekon
    investigation.

    In the meantime, a group of people identifying themselves as
    "Patriotic Intellectuals," including veteran Turkish filmmaker Halit
    RefiÄ?, journalist Banu Avar and actor Altan Günbay, were
    allowed to enter the courtroom to watch the session.

    One of the members of the group told press members that they went to
    Silivri Prison to show their support for the Ergenekon suspects. "The
    Ergenekon case is not a reassuring process. The suspects should
    immediately be released," he stated.

    Former prosecutor claims Ergenekon is as strong as before

    Gültekin Avcı, a former chief prosecutor, has recently
    compiled his impressions on the Ergenekon investigation in a book, in
    which he asserts the organization is as strong as it was before it was
    uncovered. "Though the trial process has started for Ergenekon
    suspects, the organization is as strong as it was before. For this
    illegal network to be completely uncovered, you need to have its
    members in the military appear before the judge, as well," he told the
    Cihan news agency.

    Likening Ergenekon to a living nightmare, Avcı said a full
    revelation of the organization would help restore democracy in
    Turkey. He also stated it was worth noticing that separatist and
    terrorist acts have increased in the country as the Ergenekon probe
    gets deeper.

    "As the investigation moves toward the nucleus of the organization,
    separatist and terrorist acts have increased across the country. The
    indictment also clearly mentions this direct link, pointing to the
    attack on the US Consulate General and bloody assaults by the PKK,"
    Avcı added. A deadly armed attack on the US Consulate General
    in Ä°stanbul in July left three Turkish police officers
    dead. Many strategists and observers voiced the opinion that the
    attack could be related to an ongoing investigation into Ergenekon.




    01 November 2008, Saturday


    BÃ`Å?RA ERDAL, NURÄ° Ä°MRE, TODAY'S ZAMAN WITH WIRES Ä°STANBUL
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