Balyoz lawyers complain about court to top board
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
This photo shows a press meeting held by a group of lawyers led by Istanbul Bar Association head Ümit Kocasakal, who recently protested the Balyoz court delegation.
A group of lawyers filed a complaint yesterday with the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) against the court delegation heading the ongoing “Balyoz” (Sledgehammer) case claiming their right to defense and a fair trial had been violated.“[Our complaint pertains to] practices that have taken place since the beginning of the trial with respect to the restriction of the right to defense and the suppression of the right to a fair trial,” lawyer Hüseyin Ersöz said on the group’s behalf.
Ersöz said it had already been proven that the digital documents used as evidence in the court were fabricated, in reference to recent reviews conducted by a U.S.-based consulting firm and a team of Turkish experts on the digital documents.
“The court has not reviewed all these assessments despite the fact that a new expert analysis of the digital documents in the file is called for. [This] substantially restricts the right to defense,” said Ersöz, who represents retired Gen. Çetin Doğan and other suspects in the “Balyoz” trial.
Ersöz said they had arrived at Istanbul’s Çağlayan courthouse with their colleagues yesterday to assume their duty of defense in the “Balyoz” trial.
“Once again, among our requests was a cross-examination of [retired Land Forces Commander] Aytaç Yalman and [former Chief of
General Staff] Hilmi Özkök, who could be defined as public witnesses and to whom the indictment directly referred. Unless these conditions are met, we will continue to insist on not attending the hearings,” he said.
A previous report by Arsenal Consulting concluded that dates and times related to at least 76 documents found on CDs 11 and 17 were forged. Arsenal has also concluded that dates and times related to the creation of CDs 11 and 17 were forged. Another expert report has also indicated that a portable flashdisk found in the home of retired Col. Hakan Büyük has been tampered with.
Ergenekon witness speaks
ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency
“Duyar joined the DHKP-C in a shady manner. He relayed information he could not possibly have had access to given the fact that he stayed in the organization only for a short period of about three to five months,” the witness said.
Witness “Dilovası” said Duyar was constantly visited by officials from the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) while he was in prison, even though he was not in possession of any substantive information except a few names and places.
