Two bodyguards of Tatvan Mayor Mehmet Emin Geylani, one of whom is a police officer, on trial for assaulting journalist Sinan Aygül were released pending trial after the first hearing

RUŞEN TAKVA, VAN

The first hearing in the trial of the two imprisoned bodyguards of Tatvan District Mayor Mehmet Geylani on charge ofs “causing wilful injury with arms” for assaulting journalist Sinan Aygül in Tatvan, Bitlis on 17 June 2023 was held at the Tatvan 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 14 September 2023.

Defendants Engin Kaplan and Yücel Baysalı attended the hearing, which P24 monitored, from the Bitlis E Type Closed Prison, where they were being held in remand, via the judicial videoconferencing system. Plaintiff Sinan Aygül and his lawyers attended the hearing.

“I would have fired it if I had a gun”

Defendant police officer Engin Kaplan, who delivered his defense statement following identification said, “Sinan Aygül attacked and provoked us saying it is the end for you and Tayyip [Erdoğan]. I did not in any way threaten those around me, resort to violence or resorted to my police ID. I split up the fight and the claim that I did not let those trying to intervene are false” and rejected all charges against him.

Defendant Yücel Baysalı, another bodyguard of the Mayor Geylani said in his defense statement, “I did not hit him on the head with a stick, but the prosecutor pressured me into saying this. I am not acquainted with Sinan [Aygül] and I learned he was a journalist only after the incident. He attacked me. Why would I attack him for no reason?”

Upon being reminded of the video recording of the day of the incident by the presiding judge, Baysalı said, “I do not even know what the allegations against us are. I would have fired it anyway if I had a gun or something similar at hand. I did not intend to kill” and requested his acquittal.

“Geylani is the instigator of the attack”

Journalist Aygül gave testimony following the defense statements by the defendants. Aygül said: “I expected these people would be remorseful, but I see two people who are grinning. On the day of the incident, I went to an appointment at a dental clinic. After I left the clinic, I ran right into these two people in the car. They say they do not know me, but these are the people who would carry the mayor’s bag and bring him water when I went to the mayor or when the mayor visited me. It is not possible that they would not know who I am. Because Mayor Mehmet Emin Geylani and the gang of financial interests surrounding him are disturbed by what I have written, this attack was very much planned and the instigator is the mayor himself. I uphold my complaint.”

Witnesses İbrahim Kayaalp and Harun Balıkçı recounted that as they were trying to split up the fight, police officer Kaplan had put a hand on his holstered gun and prevented them from interfering.

İsmet Eker, one of the lawyers for journalist Aygül said, “The assailants were in possession of lethal weapons. They choked the complainant and made their intent clear by saying ‘I will strangle you.’ We request that the trial proceed with the charge of “attempted murder” rather than ‘wilful injury’.”

Another lawyer for Aygül, Diyar Orak requested that the trial should be held at a high criminal court rather than a criminal court of first instance and the defendants to remain in remand.

The prosecutor for the hearing separately requested the release of each defendant with judicial control measures, based on the time they had spent in remand.

Speaking concerning the request for his release, defendant Engin Kaplan said, “I have been unrightfully kept in remand here for three months and my family have been victimized because of this. The person who should be on trial and in the defendant’s dock is Sinan Aygül.”

The court ruled for the release of the defendants on grounds of the quality of the impugned crime, the current state of evidence, time spent in custody and the completion of the collection of evidence. The trial was adjourned until 14 December 2023.

Speaking about the ruling after the hearing, journalist Aygül said, “Had a crowd not gathered that day, they would have killed me. With this ruling, no one can trust in the safety of their life any longer.”

What happened?

Journalist Sinan Aygül was assaulted by the bodyguards of Tatvan District Mayor Mehmet Geylani after leaving a dental clinic on 17 June 2023.

Video camera recordings from the day of the incident show defendant Yücel Baysalı arriving outside the dental clinic where journalist Aygül was receiving treatment, calling police officer and the mayor’s bodyguard Engin Kaplan to come to the same place and the two waiting for Aygül to leave the clinic together. The rest of the recording shows defendant Yücel Baysalı hitting Aygül from behind with a stick and severely injuring him, while police officer Engin Kaplan kept people trying to split up the fight away by displaying his holstered firearm.