In the first hearing of the Ergenekon trial that started today (October 20), the defense lawyers demanded that Sedat Sami Haşıoğlu, one of the judges in the case, withdraw from the trial, since his signature was under the arrest orders issued during the investigation.

Although the lawyers claimed that keeping him in the trial would cast a shadow over the efforts to have a just trial process, the court rejected the demand.

The suspects who were not arrested will be tried later

It did not take long for the first hearing to go into recess with 86 suspect, 46 of the them arrested, their lawyers and so many visitors, since they could not fit into the small room arranged for the trial. To solve the problem, the court decided to try the arrested and non-arrested suspects separately.

Perinçek: This is a case about closing a political party

President of the Workers Party (İP) Doğu Perinçek told the court that his party was presented as a criminal organization in the indictment and this would mean that this court was getting ready to close it. Therefore, continued Perinçek, this case should be taken to the Constitutional Court.

The jurisdictional plea was repeated by Ceyhan Mumcu, lawyer of the accused İP party administrators.

Retired Army Captain Muzaffer Tekin, another accused, said, “I have been in prison for seventeen months. They created an imaginary organization, I do not even know the name of my organization.”

Tekin is accused of being an administrator of the said organization.

The prosecutor objected to it

The prosecutor of the case objected to the jurisdictional plea. He said the İP administrators were on trial for being members of the Ergenekon organization.

Prosecutor Mehmet Ali Pekgüzel said the file was already sent to the Supreme Courts of Appeals Chief Prosecutor, so there was no need to separate the cases.

Pekgüzel also demanded the rejection of lawyer Kemal Kerinçsiz’s request to join the trial on the side of the two suspects of the case. Kerinçsiz is also a suspect in the case.

Motions to join the trial

Ali Koç, lawyer of Dr. Şebnem Korur Fincancı, a faculty member at the Medical School of Istanbul University, made a motion to join the case on behalf of his client.

Koç said Fincancı’s private meetings were included in the indictment and as a consequence of this, a file was opened  up for her.

Lawyer Siracettin Irmak made a motion to join the case on behalf of his clients Democratic Society Party (DTP) deputies Ahmet Türk, Sebahat Tuncel, Akın Birdal and Diyarbakır Mayor Osman Baydemir on the grounds that the indictment described an assassination in preparation against his clients.

Lawyer Özlem Gümüştaş and lawyer Ercan Demir made motions to join the case on behalf of the Human Rights Association (İHD) and Izmir Branch of the Contemporary Jurists Association (ÇHD), respectively, claiming that files were kept on their organizations by the Ergenekon organization.

President of Diyarbakır Bar Sezgin Tanrıkulu made a motion to join the trial on behalf of  Savaş Buldan’s wife Pervin Buldan, Musa Anter’s son Dicle Anter, Vedat Aydın’s wife Şükran Aydın, Mehmet Sincar’s wife Cihan Sincar, Serdar Danış’s brother Yakup Danış.    

The next hearing will be on October 23. (EÖ/EÜ/TB)