Jurists: Object to court verdicts influenced by Oktay, his team

Turkey's leading jurists believe individuals should appeal court decisions on a number of legal cases in which Oktay and his close circle interfered. “The phone conversations clearly show that some criminal cases resulted in the damage of some individuals. So those individuals can resort to judicial means to make up for the harm caused. They can appeal the court decisions. They can appeal them at a higher court. They can use all legal resources,” remarked Taylan Tanay, a lawyer who heads the İstanbul branch of the Contemporary Jurists' Association (ÇHD).

Tanay was referring to phone conversations between Oktay and a large number of high-ranking jurists, which have made their way into the media since Tuesday. Oktay's telephone conversations were wiretapped by Ergenekon prosecutors upon a court order. He was detained in early June in a fresh wave of operations against Ergenekon and is accused of attempting to unduly influence the course of the Ergenekon investigation. He is currently in an Ankara hospital due to complaints of high blood pressure.

Ergenekon is a clandestine criminal network that is accused of working to overthrow the government.

In the records, Oktay is heard pressuring top jurists to appoint members of his close circle of friends to higher positions in the judiciary and to clear many individuals of charges in ongoing probes or trials.

According to Boğaziçi Lawyers' Association President Bilal Çalışır, wiretap records have come to show that many legal cases were adversely impacted, and their parties may object to the courts' verdicts. “Parties can demand a fair trial free from illegal interference,” he said.

Legally wiretapped conversations also show that Oktay played an important role in the acquittal of many suspects in at least 25 criminal cases, including drugs smuggling, murder and membership in illegal organizations.

In a phone conversation on April 17, 2009, Oktay speaks with Çankaya Deputy Mayor İsa Varlı, who was sentenced to 10 months in prison for abuse of power by an Ankara court. In the conversation, Varlı asks for help to nullify the court verdict. The conversation is as follows:

Oktay: Which court is that?
Varlı: The Ankara 20th Court of First Instance.
Oktay: We need to consider options in the higher judiciary.
Varlı: Can we meet with members of the Council of State? Where shall we meet to discuss the details?
Oktay: You need to give me the name and number of the [case] file.
Varlı: I will, for sure.

Cüneyt Toraman, a lawyer at the İstanbul Bar Association, said Oktay’s politically motivated appointments were the main reason why he was able to interfere in legal cases. “What we have come to learn is the tip of an iceberg. Interference in the judiciary is greater than we believe. This is the point that the unfair appointment of members of the judiciary has taken us to,” he said.

His phone conversations have also come to suggest that Oktay cooperated with editors-in-chief of Turkey’s leading newspapers to downplay the importance of the Ergenekon probe. Phone conversations between Oktay and Workers’ Party (İP) deputy chairman Mehmet Cengiz also suggest that the two met with editors-in-chief of Turkey’s leading newspapers to pressure them to shape their newspapers’ headline stories in a way to downplay the Ergenekon investigation. Cengiz was also detained in the Ergenekon operation on June 2.

The headline stories would seek to put psychological pressure on the prosecutors overseeing the Ergenekon probe, which would hopefully lead to a halt in the ongoing investigation and then to the release of suspected Ergenekon members from prison.

Oktay and Cengiz hoped to be assisted by a number of jurists in their efforts, including lawyer Turgut Kazan and Şevket Kazan, a former justice minister. The two would criticize the Ergenekon probe in their public statements, according to a plan devised by Oktay and Cengiz.

Another plan of the two suggested that Ergenekon suspects would make comments during the trial that would lead to a rift between prosecutors and judges. The suspects would confuse the prosecutors and force them to retract their previous statements. Then, they would turn to the judges and say: “Oh, you see, the prosecutors do not even know what they are talking about.” Such confusion would play down the importance of the Ergenekon probe.

CHP’s Okay, ex-minister discuss saving deputy’s brother from trial

In a separate conversation, the former justice minister brainstorms ideas with Republican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Hakkı Suha Okay on what could be done to save Okay’s brother, Mustafa Fehmi Okay, from trial in a drug smuggling case. Okay’s brother was arrested in September of last year on suspicion of being the right-hand man of a drug baron.

On the phone Oktay tells the CHP deputy chairman: “I met with two men at the Supreme Court of Appeals. I told them that you would be visiting them in their office. They will do their best. You need to visit them. I will charge one of my friends to help you to meet with them.” In response, Okay thanks the ex-minister, saying: “I see. Thank you very much. I thank you so much.”

In another conversation, Okay tells the former justice minister that his brother was transferred to an İstanbul court. “My brother is at the 9th High Criminal Court in İstanbul. Can we make a short trip [to İstanbul]? I will try to reach you. Can we meet in a few days?” Oktay agrees to meet with the CHP deputy chairman at the end of the conversation.

Dev-Yol suspect: Uncle Seyfi, which judge shall I go to?

The former justice minister is also suspected of influencing the course of the trial of 21 leftist militants on charges of attempting to overthrow the state nearly three decades ago.

According to claims, Oktay prevented the suspects from being sentenced to lengthy prison terms. The defendants were members of the outlawed Marxist group the Revolutionary Path (Dev-Yol), which has claimed responsibility for several attacks on the Turkish government and other targets since the 1970s.

In a phone conversation on July 9, 2009, Oktay speaks with Nuri Özdemir, one of the suspects in the Dev-Yol case. Özdemir calls Oktay “Uncle Seyfi” and asks him which judge he would recommend to go to for help in the trial. In the conversation, the two speak:

Özdemir: Uncle Seyfi, it’s me. I have a few names I’d like to convey to you.
Oktay: Tell me.
Özdemir: Ersan Ülker, Sedat Bakıcı, İdris Çobanoğlu, Kubilay Taşdemir, Hüseyin Eken, Saniye Tarhan, İbrahim Şahbaz.
Oktay: Good. Very good. You know, İbrahim Şahbaz is very good.
Özdemir: I don’t know. Shall I go to him?
Oktay: He is also an associate professor. We can meet him later.

Judge threatened with slander

In a separate phone conversation, the presiding judge at the İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court, Erkan Çanak, complains that he has received threats from Kudbettin Avcı, a lawyer, over the release of a drug baron from prison. Çanak tells lawyer Ali Hadi Emre that Avcı threatened him with slander if he refused to release the drug baron.

“If he continues to threaten me, I will go to the Justice Ministry and tell them about everything. The baron was captured with 200 kilograms of drugs. How can I release him?” Çanak says, and adds: “I have known him for years. He is my friend. But he says he will complain to the [Justice Ministry] inspector about me. I have nothing to be afraid of. But why does he keep harassing me?”

Emre, in response, advises the presiding judge to calm down, and pledges that everything will be better in the future.

Çanak, however, voted for the release of Col. Dursun Çiçek from prison in July 2009. The colonel is believed to have drafted a subversive plot against the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the faith-based Gülen movement, which would eventually lead to a military takeover.

Phone conversations between Oktay and İP deputy chairman Mehmet Cengiz also suggests that the two met with editors-in-chief of Turkey’s leading newspapers to pressure them to shape the newspapers’ headline stories.

In the meantime, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office sent a written notice to the Ankara İbni Sina Hospital on Tuesday to ask whether Oktay’s condition would allow him to be interrogated by prosecutors. If the doctors consent to an interrogation, the prosecutors will question the former justice minister about the wiretap records as well as his suspected ties with Ergenekon.