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Erzurum court rejects Cihaner appeal once again
Turgut Kazan -- one of Cihaner’s lawyers -- filed an appeal at the Beşiktaş Public Prosecutor’s Office on Monday asking them to release his client from prison.
Cihaner’s arrest came after an investigation by an Erzurum prosecutor who was looking into a probe Cihaner had conducted into a number of religious communities in the city.
Also on Tuesday, the Star daily reported that Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) Vice Chairman Kadir Özbek made several phone calls to Cihaner during a police search at the prosecutor’s house.
According to the daily, police officers who were part of the search also witnessed the phone calls. Özbek made the first call early in the morning of Feb. 15 as three prosecutors were searching Cihaner’s house for evidence that could prove ties between the prosecutor and individuals who are suspects in the Ergenekon case. Ergenekon is a criminal organization accused of working to topple the government. After the search, Cihaner was arrested and put behind bars.
Star reported that Özbek told the Erzincan prosecutor not to worry about the search and said they (the HSYK) would do what was necessary. The HSYK vice chairman advised Cihaner not to create obstacles during the search and to relax. Özbek later phoned Cihaner’s lawyer, Hamit Sekman, and received detailed information about the search. The search was ordered by Erzurum specially authorized prosecutor Osman Şanal. The HSYK stripped Şanal of his special powers only one day after the search.
Özbek’s next phone call to Cihaner came in the afternoon. Özbek spoke with one of the prosecutors coordinating the search and asked the prosecutors’ names. Özbek ended the phone call after the prosecutor said they launched the search in line with a search warrant from an Erzurum court. Star also claimed that Sincan 1st High Criminal Court Chief Justice Osman Kaçmaz called Cihaner during the search.
The phone calls are believed to be part of a HYSK plan to put pressure on prosecutors coordinating the search.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Özbek confessed to calling Cihaner several times. “Yes, I talked to Cihaner. I mean I talked to him through one of our secretaries after it was made public that a search was initiated at Cihaner’s office. Unable to reach him at the office, the secretary found him at his house. I talked to Cihaner’s wife. She said their house was being searched and gave the phone to one of the prosecutors,” Özbek noted.
Prosecutors say subversive plan put into operation in Erzincan
İstanbul prosecutors who examined the case file on the investigation into Cihaner confirmed once again that a military plan titled the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism had already been put into operation in Erzincan.
Cihaner’s investigation was part of the subversive plan. The plan, reportedly drafted by a colonel on active duty, intended to undermine the power of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and eventually lead to a military coup.
Last week, Şanal forwarded the probe file to İstanbul prosecutors after he was stripped of his special powers by the HSYK. İstanbul prosecutors examined the file but decided to send it back to Erzurum prosecutors after determining that the investigation falls outside their jurisdiction.
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