There are currently two trials being conducted as part of the Ergenekon investigation. The trial based on the first indictment prepared in the case, in which Arslan is a suspect, is known as the first Ergenekon trial. Two other indictments are currently being heard separately, in what is known as the “second Ergenekon trial.” Arslan, originally a suspect in the Council of State shooting that left a judge dead, became a suspect in the first trial when a higher court ruled that the shooting was organized by Ergenekon and the two cases should be merged.
In yesterday's trial, being heard by the İstanbul 13th Higher Criminal Court at a courtroom inside Silivri Prison, where most of the jailed suspects are being kept, 28 suspects who are currently in custody, including retired Gen. Veli Küçük, retired Col. Muzaffer Tekin, Arslan and another Council of State suspect, Osman Yıldırım, as well as several other suspects who have been released pending trial, participated in yesterday's hearing.
Mehmet Cengiz, a lawyer for Ergenekon suspect and Workers' Party (İP) leader Doğu Perinçek, petitioned the court requesting that two of the judges on the panel -- Sedat Sami Haşıloğlu and Hasan Hüseyin Özese -- withdraw from the trial. As the presiding judge, Köksal Şengün, allowed Cengiz to articulate his request, suspect Arslan attempted to walk out of the courtroom. When he was stopped by bailiffs, he started yelling, “Let me go,” and refused to listen to Şengün, who urged him to return to his seat. He was forced to sit back on his seat by the bailiffs, and then removed from court. Arslan angrily kicked a wooden panel in front of the defendants' section of the courtroom as he was removed.
Last month, Arslan was denied a report of poor mental health by the Bakırköy Hospital, where he spent 15 days under the supervision of professionals. Cengiz claimed that Özese and Haşıloğlu had been involved in procedures in violation of the law and that as the defense, he and his client were of the opinion that the two judges had lost their impartiality.
Cengiz argued that it was illogical and illegal for Özese to rule to extend permission to investigators on July 29, 2008 to intercept phone conversations at the home of Perinçek, noting Perinçek was jailed at this time, and allowing the continuation of monitoring of phone conversations in the house of a person who is in jail. He accused Haşıloğlu of telling Aydın Yüksek, another suspect, in his chambers that both the presiding judge and the other judges on the panel wanted him “to make statements” in the courtroom. He also noted that suspect Yüksek had since been released from jail. Cengiz said this incident gave rise to serious doubts about Yüksek's impartiality. Cengiz also said that since he and his client had complained to the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors, the two judges had a negative opinion of their side.
In the afternoon session, the two judges announced they would not withdraw from the case, both orally and in writing. Presiding Judge Şengün said there were no legal or ethical reasons for either of the judges to withdraw.
