LANDMARK RULING IN ERGENEKON CASE
Today’s Zaman
April 21 2009
Turkey
The Ankara 11th High Criminal Court yesterday ruled to merge a case
involving a shooting at the Council of State in 2006 with the ongoing
Ergenekon trial in Istanbul.
The court’s decision was long expected, since the Supreme Court
of Appeals ruled last December to merge the case of the Council of
State attack with that of Ergenekon, a clandestine criminal network
operating inside state institutions, including the armed forces. The
trial of the Ergenekon suspects is being heard at the Istanbul 13th
High Criminal Court. The Council of State trial was being heard at
the Ankara 11th High Criminal Court.
Legal experts have generally welcomed the decision. Speaking with
Today’s Zaman, Mustafa Sentop, a professor of constitutional law, said:
"This was an expected decision, as the Supreme Court of Appeals had
already established the link with the Council of State shooting. If
the court had not conformed to the higher court’s ruling, there would
have been very serious consequences." He added that it was important
that this was avoided. He noted that the Ankara court had not reviewed
or processed much of the new evidence concerning the shooting that is
available at the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court, which is hearing
the Ergenekon trial.
Umit Kardas, a retired military judge, also said the outcome was what
was expected. "This is a procedural ruling. This attack was linked
to the organization. It can be said, however, that this has been very
positive for the course of the Ergenekon trial."
"In that sense, this has been very positive for both of the cases. In
the Council of State case, new evidence concerning the suspects not
heard by the Ankara court will be available for judicial review. It
is also very positive in terms of the future of the Ergenekon case,
as it will clarify the structure of the Ergenekon formation. It has
long been said that there are links between the two cases, but this
move will work to solidify the connections," Sentop explained.
There are other murders in Turkey’s recent history that are believed
to have been orchestrated by Ergenekon. Amongst them is the murder
of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in January 2007 by an
ultranationalist teenager. Yesterday’s decision is not likely to
have a direct effect on other cases, Sentop said, noting that it was
not an absolute necessity to merge related cases except in certain
specific circumstances. "The courts decide to do this if they see
the need," he added. He also noted that not only local courts, but
also a decision by the Supreme Court of Appeals, as was the case in
the Council of State trial, can merge various other trials believed
to be linked to Ergenekon.
Yesterday’s hearing In the course of an official investigation that
was started in the summer of 2007, a prosecutor established that
Ergenekon may have played a role in the 2006 shooting.
The Supreme Court of Appeals’ statement from its December ruling to
merge the cases noted that the Ergenekon indictment makes reference
to the armed attack on the Council of State. It urged prosecutors to
establish the character of the organization formed by the suspects in
the Council of State shooting and evaluate evidence from the shooting
together with evidence obtained in the Ergenekon investigation. The
Ankara court’s ruling is a milestone in the Ergenekon trial.
In yesterday’s hearing the convicted perpetrator of the Council of
State shooting, Alparslan Arslan, created a scene, rising from his
seat and yelling, "I will cut anyone into pieces who touches the
headscarf. Go to Israel!"
Judge Yucel Ozbilgin, who headed a Council of State Chamber that
had ruled against a teacher’s wish to wear the headscarf to school,
was killed in the 2006 shooting.
Arslan was removed from the courtroom by the bailiffs.
In addition to Arslan, other suspects in the case, Erhan Timuroglu,
Suleyman Esen, Osman Yildirim, Ismail SagIr and Tekin Irsi, their
lawyers and some members of the Council of State attended yesterday’s
trial.
After the scene in the courtroom, presiding judge Hasan Satir read
out the statement of the panel of judges announcing that the court
agreed with the decision of the Supreme Court of Appeals that "there
was an obligation to merge the Council of State shooting with the
Ergenekon trial."
Veli Kucuk’s letter Veli Kucuk, a retired general charged with being a
leader of the Ergenekon gang, petitioned the court not to merge the two
cases. The petition, submitted to the Ankara 11th High Criminal Court
by Kucuk’s lawyer and daughter, Zeynep Kucuk, stated that testimony
from Osman Yildirim, an Ergenekon suspect based on whose testimony the
Supreme Court of Appeals established the link between the two cases,
was a lie.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
