Cansu Pişkin, İstanbul - Ece Sevim Öztürk was accused of promoting chaos before the 24 June elections, “willingly abetting a terrorist organization” and “terrorist propaganda” at İstanbul 37th High Criminal Court today. In the first hearing of the case the court chose to keep Öztürk in prison and adjourn the hearing until December 11.
The charges made against Öztürk arose as a consequence of six tweets she posted on a person Twitter account and a democracy she produced titled ‘The Darkest Day of the Navy: July 15’. Before appearing in court Öztürk had spent five months in pre-trial detention.
Öztürk and her lawyers were present at the hearing, as were Republican People’s Party MPs Gamze İlgezdi, Turan Karakaş, Tanju Özcan, and Mahmut Tanal, as well as the Dutch consul, all of whom were present to monitor the court proceedings.
Öztürk warily made her defense statement before the court, noting that she had been kept in solitary confinement at Bakırköy Women’s Prison. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen so many people, therefore I am a little confused.”
“I am accused of promoting chaos before the 24 June elections,” remarked Öztürk. “I have been preparing to write a book, making research over the missing parts of the July 15 coup attempt. I am especially being accused of the part where I wrote about the Marmaris folder. I wrote that some of the evidence regarding the assassination plan of the president were not delivered to the court. I mentioned that there was another team involved in the assassination plan, my intention was not to defame the court, but to fill in the missing parts in the case file.”
Öztürk’s lawyer Efkan Bolaç took the floor to continue Öztürk’s defense, decrying the court proceedings as shameful. “The only wrongful act of my client is that she was too curious. The judiciary in Turkey is reluctant to apply the laws. There is no crime in the indictment, it is as if you are expecting my client to prove her innocence.”
The prosecutor then rose to argue that significant doubts remain about the case and alleged that there was a risk that Öztürk would attempt to escape were she to be released from detention. The court ruled that Öztürk was to remain in detention and adjourned the hearing until December 11.
Updated: November 27 2018
