Baransu continues making his defense statement during two-day hearing; trial adjourned until late August

CANSU PİŞKİN, İSTANBUL

The trial of former executives of the defunct Taraf newspaper and its reporter Mehmet Baransu for allegedly publishing a secret military document called “the Egemen Operation Plan” resumed on 11 July at the 13th High Criminal Court of Istanbul.

P24 monitored the two-day hearing, which was the 18th courtroom session in the trial. 

Mehmet Baransu was brought to the courtroom from Silivri Prison in handcuffs by gendarmerie. Held exempt from appearing in court, the former executives of Taraf Ahmet Altan, Yasemin Çongar and Yıldıray Oğur did not attend the hearing. Baransu’s lawyer Yahya Engin, Altan and Çongar’s lawyer Figen Albuga Çalıkuşu, and Yıldıray Oğur’s lawyer were in attendance.

Also in attendance were Ret. Colonels Dursun Çiçek, Suat Aytın and Hüseyin Hançer, and Major General Ahmet Yavuz, who requested to join the lawsuit as plaintiffs.

Baransu, who is the only detained defendant in the case, continued to make his defense statement.

On the first day Baransu began his defense by accusing the prosecutor who prepared the indictment of “lying” and “forgery.” Baransu complained about the number of trials against him and the difficulty in preparing defense statements for all of them at once in prison conditions. He denied having any knowledge of “Egemen Operation Plan” and he denied destroying secret documents. He continued: “Supposedly I destroyed the documents on 26 January and three days later, on 29 January, I handed the suitcase [filled with documents] to the prosecutor. How could I turn in something I had destroyed? The prosecutor changed the date from 26 January to 26 February by hand later on. Prosecutor Gökalp Kökçü committed forgery.”

The presiding judge interfered and said, “If there is forgery, you should file a complaint with the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Baransu, you were introduced to society as a hero at that period for exposing the coup plot. Either you are a fake hero, or the coup plan exists.”

Baransu continued: “The indictment is nothing but trash. Do prosecutors have the authority to disrespect courts like this?”

Baransu repeated his request to be presented with the voice recordings referred to in the indictment as evidence against him.

Baransu described the period right before he was given the documents concerning the coup plot. He spoke about having to deal with a personal emergency and being preoccupied with that. Baransu said that because of his role as a known investigative journalist numerous documents would often be sent or given to him. He told the court that on the 20th of January he was picking up money from the Taraf office in Kadıköy when he was approached by a middle aged man who introduced himself as a retired officer from the Turkish Armed Forces. The man had four CD’s and a suitcase with him and said that he was holding in his hands a very important coup plot by the army division he worked for. Baransu claimed that it was known at the time that the said division was plotting a coup.

On the second day of the hearing on 12 July, Baransu continued with his defense statement.

The presiding judge asked about the testimony against Baransu given by his ex-wife on 3 March 2015. Baransu denied his ex-wife’s claims that he met up with Tuncay Opçin on a particular date. Baransu asked the judges to hear Esra Konur in court and the report concerning her mental health to also be turned in.

As he wrapped up his defense statement, Baransu said: “I have been imprisoned for four-and-a-half years. I served more than enough time for this case. But I am in detention on remand as part of another case in Mersin anyway.” Stating that he would no longer make defense statements against the “terrorist organization membership” charge, Baransu requested the court to separate that charge against him.

After Baransu, Altan and Çongar’s lawyer Figen Albuga Çalıkuşu addressed the court and said there was a misconception about the subject matter of the trial. “This trial is not about Taraf’s coverage of the Balyoz [sledgehammer] coup plan. The CD’s that included information about the Balyoz coup are unrelated to this case. This trial is about documents that were not among those which the trial at the 4th High Criminal Court was based on. The Constitutional Court has already established this as a fact,” Çalıkuşu said.

“The document called ‘Egemen war plan’ was uncovered in 2008 among the Turkish Armed Forces’ [TSK] archives of classified documents. The allegation is that the said document was stolen from the archives and leaked to the Greek press. But the TSK has been asserting that this very document had been destroyed the same year. Since the original document does not exist, a comparison is impossible. But Taraf’s coverage at the time did not include these documents. This prosecution began when the [Balyoz] CDs and suitcase were turned into the prosecutor’s office,” Çalıkuşu added.

Yıldıray Oğur’s lawyer told the court that he agreed with Çalıkuşu’s statements and reiterated that this trial was not about the Balyoz coup plan.

After the completion of defense lawyers’ statements, the prosecutor requested the continuation of Baransu’s detention on remand. He also requested for a criminal complaint to be filed against Baransu on the charge of “insulting a public official” for calling a prosecutor “mentally deficient” during his defense statement.

Baransu’s lawyer Yahya Engin reminded the court that his client was in pre-trial detention as part of another ongoing case and therefore there were no legal grounds necessitating the continuation of his detention. He asked the court to release Baransu pending trial.

Issuing an interim ruling after a brief recess, the court ruled for the continuation of Baransu’s detention. The court also ruled to separate the file against Baransu concerning the charge of “membership in a terrorist group” to be sent to the 2nd High Criminal Court of Mersin, which is overseeing another case against Baransu. The court also ruled to hear Esra Konur, Baransu’s ex-wife, as a witness, and to wait for the execution of the arrest warrant against Tuncay Opçin, the fifth defendant in the case.