Indictment Based on "Statements"

On Friday (9 September), the Istanbul 16^th High Criminal Court accepted the 134-page indictment about a group of 14 defendants, twelve of whom are detained, who were arrested earlier this year in the scope of the Ergenekon investigation. Several journalists are among the defendants, for example Ahmet Şık, Nedim Şener or Soner Yalçın. The first hearing of the trial is set for 22 November.

The indictment was accepted unanimously. Şener and Şık are each facing prison terms of between 7.5 and 15 years under allegations of "aiding an armed terrorist organization".

The indictment was prepared by Istanbul Public Prosecutor Cihan Kansız. It was submitted to court two weeks ago upon the approval of Deputy Chief Prosecutor Fikret Seçen.

Writer Yalçın Küçük is the prime suspect of the trial. He stands accused of "directing a terrorist organization".

The list of defendants includes Küçük, Şener and Şık as well as Oda TV news portal executive Soner Yalçın, former Chief of the Eskişehir Police Hanefi Avcı, Oda TV news director Barış Terkoğlu, Oda TV General Publications Director Barış Pehlivan, Oda TV Publication Director Doğan Yurdakul, Oda TV writer Müyesser Uğur, journalists Coşkun Musluk and Sait Çakır and former National Intelligence Agency (MİT) member Kaşif Kozinoğlu as well as un-detained defendants Oda TV writers Ahmet Mümtaz İdil and İklim Ayfer Kaleli.

The defendants are tried on charges of "establishing and directing an armed terrorist organization, membership of an armed terrorist organization, aiding a terrorist organization, inciting the public to hatred and hostility, obtaining documents related to state security, obtaining confidential documents, violating the secrecy of private life, saving personal data and attempting to influence a fair trial". Journalist Nazlı Ilıcak appears in the indictment as a complainant regarding claims against Oda TV executive Yalçın.

Ergenekon is an ultra-national terrorist organization nested within the state and the military charged with various crimes with the ultimate aim to topple the ruing Justice and Development Party government.

In the section on evidence about the defendants the indictment reads that evidence is based on "partial confessions, contradicting defences, witness statements, court decisions, records, communication records, expert investigation reports, trust receipts, population and criminal records and on the scope of the entire file".

"They established internet sites"

According to the indictment, the defendants worked on forming a media that would direct the public opinion towards the interests of Ergenekon. The referring targets were defined in a document entitled "Ergenekon-Analysis Development Project for a Restructured Administration and Strategy", the indictment puts forward.

Moreover, it is said that the "armed terrorist Ergenekon organization established or directed the internet sites of National Channel, Avrasya TV, Aydınlık Magazine, Cumhuriyet newspaper, Strategy Magazine, Kanal B, VatanSeverInfo and AcikIstihbarat".

The indictment claims that organizational connections were determined between writer Küçük and journalist Yalçin and the other employees of Oda TV. Furthermore, Yalçın's alleged connections to persons whose names were included in the Ergenekon indictment was accounted for as criminal evidence.

"Completeness of evidence might be destroyed"

Experts from the renowned Bosporus University Faculty of Engineering prepared an expert report upon the request of the defence lawyers. The findings of this "Technical report" are included in the indictment's section on evidence as well. Accordingly, the investigation was not carried out based on the actual digital images of Oda TV. "Comments that were based on processes without images or assumptions cannot be subject of a forensic computer investigation and are not valid internationally. The 'Active Undelete' program to be used might destroy the completeness of evidence during the forensic computer investigation. Besides, the date of deletion given by the program coincides with the date of the last access. It was also understood that some of the seized organization documents were found in the computers of more than one of the suspects".

"Young people have to take the streets"

It was furthermore put forward that the following "organizational notes" under the heading "Discussions with Yalçın Hoca ['teacher']" were included as evidence:

"The streets are very important. The young people and the young students at university in particular have to take the streets. You made the correct diagnosis; it even came a little late, he says. But the treatment has to be done carefully. Individuals have to step up for the revival of the revolutionary Kemalist spirit. The background is lacking but with manipulation they will give the AKP a very hard time (...)". (AS/VK)