Barış Terkoğlu

Judges, prosecutors will be prosecuted in rape cover-up

18 Ocak 2024 Perşembe

You think the silent scream you let out in a dark room will never be heard. Yet, eventually, your voice is heard.

I have a report in front of me. The words "oral" appears 99 times, "anal" 215 times, "vagina" 104 times, and "Barış Terkoğlu" 5 times. No, it's not what you think. This is an investigation report prepared by the Board of Judges and Prosecutors inspectors. The subject is the judiciary members who worked to save the Adnan Oktar Organization in court.

Remember; The Oktarists had received a total of 152,000 years in prison for various crimes, primarily sexual abuse. Then, the file had gone to the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice 1st Criminal Chamber for appeal. Court members Reyhan Yaman, Derya Bayburtluoğlu, and Ahmet Mahnaoğlu; reviewed the sexual assaults and essentially overturned the decision by saying "there was consent". The three judges ignored the systematic turnstile mechanism of sexual assault, where a young girl was brought into the organization by being seduced, then coerced with pressure, gun threats, surrounded by naked men in the same room, or blackmailed with private footage into anal and oral sex! Not enough, they ordered the release of 68 organization members, removed their travel bans, lifted the seizure of their properties, and even decided to return the guns they fired at the police on the day of the operation.

You've read it in this column before. For years, I have told that this decision was not innocent, it was an organization involving the former Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Hadi Salihoğlu. As evidence, I published the correspondence seized during the operation.

Here, three Board of Judges and Prosecutors inspectors in a report of a full 680 pages, examined whether this was true. The report, which includes every detail, involved interviews with a total of 140 people, from court clerks to confessors. The assets of the judicial members under investigation and their relatives were examined. Phone records were checked. The three judges who decided to save Oktar, as well as former Istanbul Anatolian Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor Önder Yaman, former Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Hadi Salihoğlu and his son lawyer Ali Salihoğlu, prosecutor Ali Parlar, and lawyer Cem Özdemir, were investigated.

JUDGES INTERTWINED WITH DEFENDANTS

The inspectors' work is so detailed...

Let me summarize the part of the report that outlines the Oktarists' rescue story:

"(…) During the trial, it was found that the defendants Ferhunde Eda Babuna and Meltem Daban, who were released, in cooperation with Fugitive Suspect Fatih Kılıç, who took over as head of the organization's 'Legal Group', tried to reach the 1st Criminal Chamber President Reyhan Yaman and therefore the examining board, through people they referred to as 'neighbor' from the judiciary community to reach the relevant board..."

In short, the released members of the Oktar group used their connections to reach the court board. They almost wrote the court decision that would save themselves and handed it to the judges.

Let me provide some details from the report...

The organic relationship of former Chief Public Prosecutor Hadi Salihoğlu and the prosecutor of the relevant chamber, Ali Parlar, with the Oktarists, has been officially revealed, as Salihoğlu had closed the files against Oktarists in the past. The HTS records examined showed that Ali Parlar, Önder Yaman, and Hadi Salihoğlu had phone traffic with the organization defendants and lawyers at the decision stage. Court Clerk Witness G.Ü., in his statement, admitted that the decision was written outside the court and brought in. The inspectors who reviewed the court's previous 4100 decision found that it was the first time such a decision was made without examining evidence, holding a hearing, or listening to anyone. The decision of the court to return the gun fired at the police on the morning of the operation as being "half-asleep" and issuing a decision to return it was concluded to be an unprecedented practice in law. It was noted that 8 defendants escaped and 3 fled abroad as a result of the release of the organization members and the lifting of their travel bans. The senior member of the court, who was left out of the decision, told the three judges who made the decision, "You have only thought in favor of the defendant, acted as if there is no victim in the file, even an ethical defendant's lawyer would not have written what you wrote". The statements of little girls were examined one by one, the judges were seen to be cherry-picking, using evidence not in the file to give a decision of "there was consent" for group rape actions starting with anal and oral sex. Even the crimes admitted by the confessors were ignored. Most importantly, it was determined that the mentioned judicial members and their relatives had unusually enriched themselves, especially during the decision process.

DECISION TO PROSECUTE THE JUDICIARY

In conclusion...

It was concluded that the judges in the court panel Reyhan Yaman, Derya Bayburtluoğlu, and Ahmet Mahnaoğlu, and even though he retired during this process, former Chief Public Prosecutor Hadi Salihoğlu should be dismissed from the profession, and a relocation penalty should be given to Ali Parlar and Önder Yaman. In addition, it was decided to prosecute the said judicial members for supporting activities for the Adnan Oktar Organization. The meticulous work of the three Board of Judges and Prosecutors inspectors will be sent to the Supreme Court this week, and the judicial members will be brought to court in the coming days. Strangely enough, despite all these findings, the mentioned judicial members are continuing to work in Bakırköy or the Regional Court.

Me? Former Chief Public Prosecutor Hadi Salihoğlu complained to the Board of Judges and Prosecutors members who took his statement about my 4 articles and one news article covering the Oktar structure in the judiciary. He defended himself by saying how he "made me suffer immensely" by getting an access ban on my articles, issuing a correction order from the court, and filing a lawsuit against me. When the inspectors examined everything, they concluded that what I wrote was true, and even lacked some details. I spoke with my lawyer, and in the coming days, I will file a complaint against the judicial members who made decisions in favor of Salihoğlu, blocked my articles, and filed lawsuits against me, despite the concrete truth.

The truth is like an avalanche... Even its smallest piece grows and eventually asserts itself, even years later.


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