A complaint for “insult” and “threats” has been filed against the lawyer of former Police Academy lecturer Şükrü Tuğrul Özşengül, who died in prison from a heart attack, due to his statement at the hearing

CANSU PİŞKİN, İSTANBUL

The İstanbul 26th High Criminal Court, which is overseeing the re-trial of deceased defendant Şükrü Tuğrul Özşengül, whose sentencing in what is publicly known as the “Altan’s Case” was overturned by the Supreme Court of Appeals’ General Criminal Board, has filed a criminal complaint against Özşengül’s lawyer Mustafa Bal due to his statement at the hearing.

Former Police Academy lecturer Özşengül, who faced trial alongside journalists Ahmet Altan and Nazlı Ilıcak, Zamannewspaper’s former visual director Fevzi Yazıcı and brand marketing director Yakup Şimşek, died in Silivri Prison from a heart attack on 30 July 2022. Özşengül, who suffered from high blood pressure and coronary disease was placed in pre-trial detention in September 2016 and sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment for “membership in an armed terrorist organization.” An appeal against the sentence was filed with the Supreme Court of Appeals.

With its decision on 8 December 2022, the Supreme Court of Appeals’ General Criminal Board overturned the sentencing of Özşengül, Yazıcı and Şimlek and the file was resubmitted with the İstanbul 26th High Criminal Court, which is the court of first instance, for a retrial. The İstanbul 26th High Criminal Court filed a preliminary proceedings report regarding the decision to overturn on 2 March 2023 and ruled to rightfully release Özşengül for time served and separated the case file for him.

The trial of Özşengül based on the separated case file began on 21 March 2023. According to the judicial video-conferencing system (SEGBİS) records, the prosecutor submitted their final opinion on the case and requested the case against the Özşengül to be dismissed. In his statement against the final opinion, Özşengül’s lawyer Mustafa Bal requested the court to rule for acquittal instead of dismissal. Bal said, “The court has ruled to rightfully release my client for time served eight months before his passing and ruled for an interim decision to issue a writ to the prosecutor’s office for the necessary proceedings. In this trial, we frequently observed efforts to make prison the permanent abode of the defendant. Despite all our warnings, efforts and toil, his permanent abode is now İstinye Cemetery.”

Stating that Özşengül with chronic hypertension had suffered a non-fatal heart attack and undergone two angiographies and one open heart surgery while imprisoned, lawyer Bal continued, “In all our petitions, we expressed the health condition of the defendant. However, instead of transferring the defendant to [the Directorate of] Forensic Medicine, the court transferred him to an ordinary hospital. There, eye and dermatology specialists drafted a report saying that ‘the defendant may be hosted, kept in prison.’ Now, the directorate of cemeteries has become my client’s permanent abode.” Bal added, “Although it may appear out of reach now, one day justice will be served. When that time comes, we will still be in these courtrooms, but perhaps we will have switched places, perhaps I will not be on the defending side. I will still strive to do my duty rightfully.”

Bal ended his statement with a quotation from a book by retired prosecutor Mete Göktürk, saying: “There are invisible authorities that cannot be found in the Constitution or laws who approve some judicial decisions. As a result, some judges and prosecutors have taken the easy way out and have found it safer to cast aside the principles of justice and the law and to serve under remote control, or to put it another way, to undertake enforcement for the dominant powers.”

At the end of the hearing, the court ruled to dismiss the case against Özşengül due to the defendant being deceased and decided to file a criminal complaint with the İstanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office against lawyer Mustafa Bal for “insult” and “threats”) over his statement.

The sentencing of journalists Ahmet Altan and Nazlı Ilıcak in the “Altanlar Case” was overturned by the 16th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals in April 2021. Mehmet Altan had been acquitted earlier and the acquittal had become final upon the approval of the Supreme Court of Appeals.