Court accepts indictment on former justice minister
ISTANBUL
A new indictment that highlights former Justice Minister Seyfi Oktay as the No. 1 suspect in the ongoing Ergenekon case was accepted yesterday by the court.The indictment seeks jail time for 11 suspects including Oktay and Nihan Atasagun, nephew of former President Süleyman Demirel, on accusations of “attempting to influence the course of justice.”
The suspects were alleged to have engaged in “judiciary structuring,” attempting to directly place Ergenekon members in positions in the judiciary.
The indictment claimed the gang developed special strategies in order to infiltrate the judiciary.
Oktay denies claims
Oktay was the No. 1 suspect in the indictment but denied yesterday the indictment’s claims, saying he never followed the trial process in the Ergenekon case and has never had any connection whatsoever with the alleged Ergenekon gang.
Ergenekon is an alleged ultranationalist, shadowy gang accused of planning to topple the government by staging a coup initially by spreading chaos and mayhem in society.
It is an alleged extension of the “deep state,” an unofficial organization within the state that has operated beyond the authority of elected governments since the beginning of the Cold War. k HDN
