EYLEM SONBAHAR
In the trial involving Boğaziçi University students and journalist Yağmur Kaya, attorney Şuayip Bolat contested the expert report, stating it lacks scientific basis and was signed by two individuals not appointed by the court.
The eighth hearing of the case against journalist Kaya and 51 Boğaziçi University students, charged with opposing the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations No. 2911, took place at the Istanbul 17th Criminal Court of First Instance. These charges stemmed from a police intervention against students wanting to issue a statement at Çağlayan Courthouse following the detention of their peers at Boğaziçi University on March 25, 2021. Kaya and several students were detained during the incident.
Attorney Beyza Saliha Alkın, representing some of the defendants, stated they would make detailed defenses after the prosecutor's opinion on the merits. Attorney Hasan Ozan Kebapçı, arguing there was no finding against his client in the expert report, requested an acquittal.
'Expert report does not comply with scientific principles'
Attorney Şuayip Bolat summarized objections to the submitted expert report: "The video recordings were not collected and preserved in accordance with the procedure. The report is not scientifically sound. It hasn't been clearly established whether the footage is original, or if any additions or deletions were made, or if there were any manipulations regarding sound characteristics, image dimensions, and colors in a scientifically and technically examinable manner."
'Expert overstepped authority and made findings beyond their jurisdiction'
Bolat argued that the report, as a whole, is not suitable for review by the parties, the court, or the Supreme Court, and that the expert made findings beyond their jurisdiction and provided legal opinions. Bolat continued, "The expert report was also signed by two more people whom the court did not appoint. The report contains excessive advertising. We request the report be disregarded. Since it is not proven that our clients committed the accused crime, we request an immediate acquittal for those defendants not yet heard, or otherwise, we request a new report from the Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Institute of Forensic Medicine and Forensic Sciences."
The prosecutor requested that the deficiencies in the case be addressed. The court rejected the request by some defendant attorneys for an immediate acquittal and decided to write to the Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa Institute of Forensic Medicine and Forensic Sciences to examine the police-provided footage and a CD submitted by journalist Yağmur Kaya for sound characteristics, image dimensions, colors, and to determine if there was any montage. The hearing was adjourned to July 5, 2024.
