The prison conditions are also a matter of current debate. On Monday, Zaman published a headline revealing that a successful trial is not possible under these circumstances. The very same day Felicity Party (SP) mayoral candidate Veysel Candan, running in the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality, drew an unfortunate metaphor between Silivri and Guantanamo. Most likely Candan was speaking for the cameras in his TV interview, and surely he used exaggerated remarks for effect, even if he didn't mean it. However, if these were his sincere views, this presents a grave situation.In a live broadcast Candan told journalist Hulki Cevizoğlu that the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is doing to the detainees in Silivri what the US did to its prisoners in Guantanamo, adding that the party was taking its revenge for the Feb. 28 incidents. I should first note that the ongoing investigation and trials cannot be viewed as an attempt to take the revenge for Feb. 28; misinformation leads to misinterpretations. For instance, everybody -- including Hürriyet's Ahmet Hakan -- thinks that Tuncer Kılınç was secretary-general of the National Security Council (MGK) during the Feb. 28 process; however, he was the secretary-general of the Defense Ministry. He only became secretary-general of the MGK in 2001. Misleading and inaccurate comments are made in reliance on such misinformation. Feb. 28 should be adequately addressed, and those responsible should be held accountable; however, the current investigation is not effective in these duties. Besides, even if his comment was accurate, Candan should be the last person complaining about Silivri, considering that his party was banned from politics and its leader has been convicted in the current proceedings. Even if we assume that this was a slip of the tongue, comparing Silivri to Guantanamo was simply unfortunate.
Let's return to our actual subject: Action should be taken over the disorganization and poor conditions of the Silivri judicial complex. Defendants are trying to put pressure on the court panel and the prosecutors, seeking to destroy the balance and determination of the prosecutors with insulting behaviors. The prosecutors asked for measures addressing this problem and have even pressed charges. I do not even want to think about what they are doing in their prison cells considering their recklessness in public. Ümit Sayın, the alleged mentor of Ergenekon leaders, recalled that defendants were forced to file a petition against their prosecutors and that defendants Hayrettin Ertekin and Vedat Yenerer attacked Emin Gürses. Measures should have been taken without delay for the sake of legality.
It should also be noted that almost all of the defendants give the same defense in the proceedings. This cannot be a coincidence. It is also interesting to note that even the defendants who previously declared they would make important statements or give confessions still prefer to offer the "template" defense. For instance, Hüseyin Görüm previously said he would disclose the truth when the time is right; however, Görüm, who did not stand trial for long, made a rather different statement when he was actually called to court and remained indifferent to the prosecutors' attempts to remind him of his previous offers.
The relevant legislation states that the inmates should be held in separate cells depending on the type of criminal offenses they have committed and on the security required. Under the same legislation, rivals and inmates who commit crimes in cooperation are not housed together, and are otherwise forbidden to have any contact whatsoever. However, no such measures have been taken at the Silivri complex, and the consequences of this failure are obvious. If the Justice Ministry and the court fail to reverse this neglect, the trials will not lead to concrete results.
