8 released in İBB case: 19 of 21 secret witnesses never heard

The Istanbul 33rd Heavy Penal Court ruled on the 109th day of the İBB case, which has 436 defendants including İBB Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, to release 8 detained people. After the release procedures were completed, the 8 people left prison, and 38 detainees remain in the case.

The court has so far summoned to the hearing only 2 of the 21 secret witnesses whose statements formed the basis of the indictment. The secret witness "Gürgen", who joined remotely, said of the allegations he had described with certainty at the prosecutor's office: "There is no situation I witnessed or personally saw; what was being talked about was like that, I don't remember." The secret witness "Zeytin" said of the accusations used as grounds for the detentions: "I heard the name in the market, I guessed, I made a connection in between"; he confessed that he did not know at all Fatih Keleş, Resul Emrah Şahan and Gürkan Akgün, whom he accused, nor Ramazan Gülten, whose surname he even wrote incorrectly. The secret witnesses named "İlke" and "Martı", who were summoned to the court, did not come to the hearing.

Nergiz İnce, lawyer of İBB Sports Club President Fatih Keleş, noting that there are 21 secret witnesses in the file, that 15 of them appear in the indictment, that it was decided to hear 4 of them and that only 2 were heard, asked: "Where are the others?" The court, on the 109th day when the release requests were discussed, decided to waive the hearing of 19 of the secret witnesses and to be satisfied with the statements they gave during the investigation phase.

Those released were Fatoş Ayık, Purchasing and Tender Manager of Medya A.Ş.; businessperson Serhat Kapki; businessperson Ahmet Köksal; Onur Aldı, Deputy General Manager of Kültür A.Ş.; Volkan Ateş, weighbridge supervisor at the Cebeci mine site; Mehmet Pehlivan, İmamoğlu's lawyer; Fatoş Pınar Türker, General Manager of Medya A.Ş.; and Murat Or, Chief of Staff to Ali Sukas, General Manager of Ağaç A.Ş.

Mehmet Pehlivan said: "Now I want to be reunited with my daughter. Of course I am happy, but there is a knot inside me. My brother is in prison, my friends are in prison." Fatoş Pınar Türker said: "My only wish is to be reunited with my daughters. My mind is with the other friends who remain locked up." Onur Aldı said: "We waited 18 months to listen to someone. Neither secret witnesses nor witnesses. And in the end, here we are."