Drug trafficking murderer’s testimony listed as evidence against Fethullah Gülen
A scandalous, government-driven indictment that described Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen as a “terrorist” has cited as evidence the testimony of a well-known drug trafficker who has been convicted of 13 different crimes.
The indictment prepared by Ankara Public Prosecutor Serdar Coşkun included testimony given by Kadir İnan, who has been convicted of drug trafficking, murder, attempted murder, blackmail and extortion. İnan, a fugitive for two years, was detained in February 2013 as part of sweeping police crackdown on a drug trafficking network in Ankara.
During the search of his home, police found a government-issued MP5 machine gun, two unregistered weapons and communications equipment. Investigators discovered that İnan had been working closely with a crooked cop named Seyyit Akşit, who was passing information to İnan regarding the identities of informants in the drug world as well as details of a police investigation into a drug cartel in Ankara.
Necati A., a police informant, was discovered by the drug cartel as part of such an information exchange. He was later murdered execution style with 20 bullets to the head.
When the government had a falling out with the Hizmet movement -- popularly known as the Gülen movement, which is inspired by the US-based Turkish Muslim scholar -- after corruption scandals that broke in December 2013 and implicated senior government officials, Gülen was unjustly targeted with a series of plots that were allegedly cooked up by the government.
Both İnan and Akşit were pressured to testify against several people, including former police chiefs, and blame Hizmet in exchange for the withdrawal of certain charges against them, including theft. But Akşit later notified the prosecutor conducting the investigation that he had changed his testimony, because the promises had not been fulfilled.
A letter written by Akşit blowing the whistle on a government plot against Hizmet was not included in the indictment, and the prosecutor who was originally assigned to investigate Akşit's claims of a plot was later dismissed.
Akşit is now among seven suspects listed in the indictment.
The indictment accuses seven suspects, including four police officers, of delivering a police car, equipment, documents and information to criminal organisations.
The indictment will be heard at the Ankara 2nd High Criminal Court, a special court that was recently set up by a government-controlled judicial council to try opponents and critics. No trial date has been set.
The whole case appears to have been built on testimony provided by one disgraced cop and one drug trafficker, even though the cop later changed his testimony.
The prosecutor has claimed the suspects belong to what he called the "Fethullah terrorist organization," though no such organization has ever existed.
No court has convicted Gülen -- who inspired a worldwide network called Hizmet that focuses on education and interfaith dialogue efforts -- of being a terrorist.
Gülen's lawyer, Nurullah Albayrak, said an organization can only be deemed terrorist after a conviction in a lower court is accepted by the criminal chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals. Neither the police nor the prosecutor can classify anyone or any organization as terrorist.
Prosecutor Coşkun claimed he has found concrete evidence proving the suspects acted in an organized manner, but only listed two CDs featuring public lectures delivered by Gülen as well as copies of news reports that were published in pro-government dailies.
Akşit, who worked in the Organized Crime Unit of the Ankara Police Department, handed over police equipment to İnan, a known figure in an organized crime syndicate with a long criminal record, in exchange for money. When they were caught, they blamed Hizmet for their crimes. İnan, listed as a suspect in the indictment, was not investigated in relation to the theft of the police car.
In a bizarre twist, the indictment charged Nebil Ark -- a medical doctor who works as an ear, nose and throat specialist at Turgut Özal University hospital -- as the leader of the group.
It listed no evidence, however, linking Ark to the other suspects, who denied that they had ever met the doctor. In his deposition, Ark also denied all charges and said he did not know any of the police officers mentioned in the indictment.
Akşit was detained on Aug. 8, 2014 and interrogated by two high-ranking police chiefs, Erdinç Elpe and Murat Çelik, which uncovered details of the plot against Hizmet.
According to information provided by Akşit, he was coerced into testifying against the Hizmet movement and threatened with dismissal if he did not act in accordance with the two police chiefs' demands that he present fabricated evidence during his testimony.
Upon being threatened, Akşit agreed to testify that a number of police chiefs and officers as well as civilians were plotting against the government.
However, despite the fact that Akşit testified in line with the demands of the two police chiefs, the promise to release Akşit was not kept and he was arrested under the pretense of the original accusations against him.
Following the arrest, Akşit wrote a three-page explanatory letter to the prosecutor, saying: “I gave the testimony under pressure and threats from the two police officers and was [coerced into] making accusations against the people I named in the testimony. I actually do not know [anyone named] Dr. Nebil [Ark], [but] I mentioned him in my testimony. I just read his name in line with the instructions the police chiefs gave to me.”
Akşit has filed a complaint about Elpe and Çelik.
In his letter to the prosecutor, Akşit wrote that he was forced to slander Hizmet and testify against the movement as a secret witness in the investigation into the so-called "parallel structure" and its members. He also maintains that he was threatened with dismissal if he resisted testifying against the movement.
After Akşit was assured that he would be released from police custody, he was asked to sign a list that named certain individuals and members of the police force allegedly affiliated with Hizmet; his signature would indicate that the list was part of his testimony. While Akşit read the text, a police officer took notes about what Akşit was doing.
The testimony includes the allegation that each police officer listed in the testimony donated TL 250-500 per month to the Hizmet movement. After Akşit signed the testimony, he was sent to the prosecutor's office, arrested and put in prison.
Akşit realized that he had been deceived by the police chiefs and their promises to release him would not be fulfilled, so he decided to reveal the plot against the Hizmet movement. Upon receiving the letter, Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor Tayfun Kaya launched an investigation into Elpe and Çelik. Kaya was reassigned from the case later.
In his letter to Kaya, Akşit stated that he has no ties to Hizmet. He wrote: "After I was detained, I was forced to testify against the movement. All information in the testimony text was written by the police chiefs and given to me. None of the information about the movement reflects the truth. I did not suffer at all [because of] the movement during my time [as a police officer]. I have filed a complaint against the two police chiefs who put pressure on me to testify against the movement.”
When a massive corruption investigation into the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) became public on Dec. 17, 2013, the AK Party responded to the graft allegations by removing police officers and members of the judiciary from their current positions and reappointing them to less influential posts or expelling them completely whenever possible.
Then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan claims that a "parallel structure" affiliated with Hizmet is behind the corruption probe and seeks to overthrow his government, although he has produced no proof to support this claim. Several businessmen close to the government as well as the sons of three ministers were detained in the investigation on Dec. 17, 2013.
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