No judicial action taken against deputy accused of bribing witness

Ersin was earlier accused by various newspapers of having met with a witness in the Ergenekon probe. He admitted having met the witness at the Hotel Eriza but said the person in question had asked for a job and help moving to another city. The Turkish press yesterday accused him of having paid Munzur, a secret witness in the case, a considerable amount of money that was placed inside a briefcase. The allegations were based on images obtained from security cameras at the Hotel Eriza.

Justice and Development Party (AK Party) parliamentary group deputy chairman Bekir Bozdağ yesterday said prosecutors should investigate the claims. “Ersin has committed a crime, and the public prosecutors should have already acted. If there has been no investigation, I am hereby calling for one. What he did was a blatant crime; the prosecutors should do as the law requires.”

Ersin himself denied allegations that he brought an attaché case to Munzur in an effort to persuade him to retract his testimony, included in an indictment into suspects of a probe under way in Erzincan.

The images published in the media show Ersin walking into the lobby with a case in his hand. He is introduced to Munzur in the next picture, where the two are seen shaking hands in the lobby. In the third picture, Ersin is seen quietly placing the case on the floor. Subsequent images from the camera show Ersin walking out of the hotel without a bag. Another image in the sequence shows Erdal Erdoğan -- another suspect in the case currently in custody who allegedly introduced Munzur to Ersin and reportedly a good friend of Erzincan Prosecutor İlhan Cihaner, who has been jailed in the investigation, picking up the bag placed by Ersin from the lobby floor. Another CHP deputy, Erol Tınastepe, has also been accused of having met with Munzur.

Images published in the media show CHP deputy Ersin, with a case in his hand, walking into the lobby of the Hotel Eriza, where he is introduced to Munzur and shakes his hand.

Ersin responded to the allegations yesterday, saying his pajamas were in the bag, not money. He said he talked about family matters with Munzur in a statement made to Today’s Zaman. Ersin said he came to the meeting at the Eriza Hotel from his hotel room, not from outside. He said that while in the lobby, an ordinary citizen, who later proved to be Munzur, approached him saying he had problems with his wife and no job. He told him he would like to move to Ankara or İzmir and asked for help. Noting that there were many witnesses to the meeting, he said: “I walked down to the lobby from my room with the bag. My pajamas and shaving kit were inside it. If there was money inside the case, why would I give this to Munzur in plain sight of all those people? Am I that stupid? I would call him to my room if I was going to do that.” He also said he did not have TL 80,000 to spare for anyone, adding that he still owed TL 20,000 on a bank loan. “I don’t think I influenced the judiciary in any way. I will never go to Erzurum or Erzincan again.

Frankly, I am about to become ill. This is it. I don’t have any intention of trying to free people who are under arrest. I am done; the rest is up to the judiciary,” Ersin said.

Meanwhile, Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputy Erdal Kalkan, who has a background in law, yesterday expressed an opinion on the case, saying the two deputies were violating the confidentiality of the investigation and Article 138 of the Constitution. “In a judicial process where the trial proceedings have already begun, no stance can be taken – to say nothing of talking to witnesses -- under Article 138 of the Constitution, which guarantees the impartiality of the judicial process. What they are doing is in violation of the Constitution and could influence the judiciary.”

Investigation background

Documents attached by prosecutors to the indictment accepted earlier in March by an Erzurum court detail how an alleged military plot drafted by an active duty colonel was put into operation in Erzincan. According to the documents, the plot was put into operation in the province after a visit by Col. Dursun Çiçek and retired Gen. Ergin Saygun in April 2009.

Titled the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism, the plot was drafted by Çiçek, a naval colonel.

The plot contains a plan to plant weapons and ammunition in the homes of members of certain religious communities. Police raids at these houses would result in the arrest of those individuals, leading the public to believe that religious communities had “terrorist intentions.”

Munzur is quoted as saying in the new documents that Gen. Saygun and Col. Çiçek met in Erzincan and even traveled in the same vehicle. The two had coup meetings they called “seminars” in Erzincan to discuss the details of the plot, according to the same documents.

Last week, Erzincan police launched a search at the Paradise Patisserie, where CHP İzmir deputy Ersin reportedly held a meeting with Munzur to convince him to retract his testimony.

The first hearing of the trial will be held in early May at the Erzurum 2nd High Criminal Court. There are 14 suspects in the trial, 11 of whom are in custody. The suspects are Gen. Saldıray Berk, the commander of the 3rd Army, Cihaner, two colonels, one major, one sergeant, four noncommissioned officers, three National Intelligence Organization (MİT) employees and a civilian.