Ahmet Turan Alkan, whose conviction on the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization” was overturned by the Supreme Court of Appeals in March 2021, appeared before the court as the fifth defendant in the retrial

CANSU PİŞKİN, ISTANBUL 

The third hearing of the retrial of former Zaman columnists Şahin Alpay, Ali Bulaç, Mümtazer Türköne and editor Mehmet Özdemir was held at Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court on 11 January 2022.

P24 monitored the hearing. Alpay, Bulaç and Türköne and their lawyers were in attendance. Özdemir, whose acquittal of "membership in a terrorist organization" was overturned by the Supreme Court of Appeals, did not attend.

Another former Zaman columnist, Ahmet Turan Alkan, whose conviction on the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization” was overturned by the Supreme Court of Appeals in March 2021, appeared before the court as the fifth defendant in the retrial. The high court had reversed its previous decision to uphold Alkan’s sentence on the grounds of misjudgment due to an incorrect assessment of the evidence.

In his defense statement, Alkan requested to be acquitted. The trial court decided to abide by the Supreme Court of Appeals judgment regarding Alkan.

The court then heard two witnesses, including former Zaman columnist Hüseyin Gülerce. Joining the hearing via the judicial video-conferencing network SEGBİS, Gülerce told the court in his testimony that neither Alpay nor his four co-defendants had any ties with the Gülen network or received any instructions from the movement.

Ümit Eroğlu, an academic from Bahçeşehir University, was also heard as a witness. Eroğlu told the court that his room was across from Alpay’s room at the faculty. “We used to chat often. Şahin Alpay believes in democracy and secularism. I know he is against military coups and tutelage. I don't think he has any ties with terrorism,” Eroğlu told the court.

Türköne’s lawyer Figen Albuga Çalıkuşu said Gülerce’s testimony confirmed her client’s defense statement and demanded Türköne’s acquittal. Lawyers representing the other defendants also demanded that the court take into account the statements by the witnesses and rule for acquittal.

Şahin Alpay’s lawyer Aynur Tuncel Yazgan requested that the court review and lift the judicial control measures imposed on her client.

In its interim ruling, the court ordered the continuation of the judicial control measures imposed on all defendants. Ruling to wait for the execution of the arrest warrant issued for Özdemir and to send the case file to the prosecutor’s office for the preparation of their final opinion, the court adjourned the retrial until 7 April 2022.