Ergenekon court gets emotional

HAKKARİ - Hürriyet Daily News

Suspects in the Ergenekon coup plot case went had an emotional moment in court yesterday, when musician Melike Demirağ, who was among the courtroom audience, sang a song called “Arkadaş (Friend)” for the convicts.

At the 211th hearing in the case, in which 273 suspects are being tried, 65 of whem are under arrest, Melike Demirağ said “I want to sing a song,” addressing one of the convicts, Mustafa Balbay. Those surrounding Balbay stopped talking, and Demirağ sang a song called “Arkadaş (Friend).” Some of the imprisoned suspects sang along with her.

‘Worth eveything’

After Demirağ’s song ended, the people in the courtroom applauded and Balbay said, “Listening to this song from you is worth everything.”

“We could spend four more years in prison for such a song,” Tuncay Özkan said, humorously. Balbay mentioned his views about the case to those attending the hearing. “We will together search for law within the limits of rules. I haven’t lost my hope yet. They have turned this judgment into a form of torture. We are against that,” he said.

At the hearing, held in a courtroom at Silivri Prison by Istanbul’s 13th Court for Serious Crimes, 43 detained suspects in the case were present, including People’s Republican Party (CHP) Izmir deputy and journalist Balbay. The court refused to release the 65 suspects currently imprisoned as part of the Ergenekon coup plot, including CHP deputies Haberal and Balbay, on July 27.