SUSPECTS, LAWYERS FED UP WITH READING OF INDICTMENT

Today’s Zaman
Oct 30 2008
Turkey

The fifth session of the trial of 86 suspects on charges of involvement
in Ergenekon, a criminal network accused of plotting to overthrow
the government, was held yesterday with the continuation of reading
the massive indictment aloud.

Suspects and their lawyers were observed to be fed up with the reading,
with some asking the prosecutors to skip through the pages. Presiding
judge Köksal ?engun informed attendees of the trial that some
suspects and their lawyers have petitioned the court to stop reading
the indictment and directly start the trial process. Among these
suspects were Workers’ Party (Ä°P) leader Dogu Perincek, Ä°P Vice
President Nusret Senem, Ulusal Kanal (National Channel, supported by
Perincek’s group) board member Adnan Akfırat, its Editor-in-Chief
Ferit Ä°lsever and Ä°zmir Bureau Chief Hayati Ozcan.

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. Journalists, who timed the prosecutor’s speed
— and found that one page takes about seven minutes on average —
estimate it should take at least 280 hours to finish reading the
massive indictment. The prosecution was able to finish only less
than 300 pages of the indictment in the first five sessions spend
reading it.

Å~^engun asked lawyers if they wanted the indictment to be read line
by line or if it would be okay to read solely the main headings of
some parts. Lawyers said summarizing some parts would be acceptable,
adding that those who asked to court to read the massive indictment
didn’t even attend the trial. Some of the suspects walked outside the
courtroom and did not listen to the indictment. Others dozed during
the trial while others chatted.

The Ä°stanbul 13th High Criminal Court is hearing the case in a
makeshift courtroom inside Silivri Prison, near Ä°stanbul. Among the
86 suspects are retired Gen. Veli Kucuk, former Ä°stanbul University
Rector Kemal Alemdaroglu, lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz, 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. Forty-six of the suspects
are in custody, and the rest have been released pending the outcome
of the trial.

Ultranationalist mafia boss Sedat Peker, one of the defendants in the
Ergenekon case, attended the trial for the first time yesterday. A
large majority of defendants and their families, however, did not
show up at the courtroom, which was observed to be rather deserted
compared to previous sessions. All of the journalists waiting outside
were allowed into the courtroom to watch the session. It was 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.

There was brief incident of tension yesterday between Senem and
prosecutor Mehmet Ali Pekguzel. Senem objected to the prosecutor
reading swearwords from the indictment aloud. "I’ve worked as lawyer
for 30 years. This is not how texts including swearwords should be
read," Senem said. Pekguzel, in reply, said other suspects reacted
negatively when he censored such words.

In the meantime, the Cihan news agency reported yesterday that retired
noncommissioned officer Mahmut Ozturk, arrested last June as part
of the Ergenekon investigation, told prosecutors earlier this month
that he was attacked in prison by retired Maj. Zekeriya Ozturk,
who is also on trial and is being held in custody.

According to the agency, Mahmut Ozturk told prosecutors that Zekeriya
Ozturk attacked him in prison when he asked the retired major about
a knife an Ergenekon suspect used in an attempt to commit suicide.

"[Retired Capt.] Muzaffer Tekin was staying in my house as guest. One
day, after I returned home, I found him stabbed in the chest. When I
asked him about the incident, he said he attempted to committed suicide
because he was accused of involvement in the Council of State attack
[in 2006 that killed a senior judge]. I called Zekeriya and told him
to get an ambulance. Zekeriya took the knife with him. Then I learned
that he did not submit the knife to police. When I asked him the other
day about the knife, he attacked me," Mahmut Ozturk told prosecutors.

Neo-nationalist academic met with PKK’s jailed leader

Emin Gurses, a neo-nationalist academic who is an Ergenekon suspect,
has met with the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’
Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan, the indictment has revealed.

According to the indictment, Gurses stated in a panel discussion he
attended in 2005 that Ocalan told him that Armenians were using Kurds
to seize land from Turkey. "Ocalan told me that Kurds shoulder the
burden for the establishment of Kurdistan but that Armenians will
have control of more than half of the new country. He said he goes
to largely Kurdish-populated villages and has a few of the prominent
figures of these places killed. Then, the whole of these villages
enter under my control," remarked Gurses.

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