The "Secret Witness" indictment was accepted in the investigation of Ayhan Bora Kaplan.

The indictment, which was prepared by the Ankara Public Prosecutor's Office and sent to the Ankara 13th Criminal Court, was accepted regarding 11 individuals, including former Ankara Provincial Police Deputy Director Murat Çelik, former Organized Crime Branch Director Kerem Gökay Öner, former Branch Deputy Director Şevket Demircan, former Branch Commissioners Ufuk Gültekin, Gökhan Karaca, and Metehan İlkyaz, as well as Nurullah Özgür Kopuk, Ramazan Kubat, Adem Kaçan, Mustafa Çotuk, and Erdoğan Sertçelik, who are all connected to Ayhan Bora Kaplan's criminal organization.

The court decided to accept the indictment against the 11 defendants and set the date for the first hearing as July 18.

FROM THE INDICTMENT

The indictment states that in the social media recordings shared by Serdar Sertçelik, the secret witness of the Ayhan Bora Kaplan criminal organization case, various allegations were made against Öner, Çelik, Demircan, and Gültekin, which led to an investigation being initiated.

"THEY ACTED PROTECTIVELY WITHOUT HAVING THE AUTHORITY"

The indictment mentions that Çelik, Öner, Demircan, İlkyaz, Karaca, and Gültekin were involved in the investigation of the Ayhan Bora Kaplan criminal organization as law enforcement officers and were acquainted with Sedar Sertçelik as a result.

The indictment states that these defendants "acted protectively without having the authority throughout the entire investigation process before any secret witness decision was made regarding the Ayhan Bora Kaplan criminal organization investigation."

ILLEGAL DOCTOR'S REPORT WAS OBTAINED

The indictment explains that Sertçelik planned to leave the country in order to avoid being arrested after thinking that he would be arrested following the decision to detain him for the second time on November 24, 2023. It is stated that the police officers obtained an unauthorized doctor's report and directed the relevant doctor to prevent the implementation of the arrest warrant.

The indictment further states that despite the "residence restriction" imposed on Sertçelik, he violated it and fled after receiving instructions to be present without being arrested on November 27, 2023.

The indictment mentions that "Sertçelik directly informed the suspects Ufuk Gültekin and Gökhan Karaca that he would go abroad." It is also stated that "therefore, the suspects Şevket Demircan, Kerem Gökay Öner, and Murat Çelik, who are the sequential superiors of the suspect Metehan İlkyaz, who is responsible for the control of whether Serdar Sertçelik, who is under investigation for the Ayhan Bora Kaplan criminal organization, is present in his residence, were also aware of this."

According to the indictment, based on the correspondence between Öner and Demircan on November 29, 2023, it is stated that Sertçelik went from Ankara to Istanbul. The indictment includes the following statements:

"It has been determined that a record was made stating that Serdar Sertçelik could not be found, and they made a joint decision to mislead the judicial authorities and protect and favor Serdar Sertçelik. It has been understood that the suspects Murat Çelik, Kerem Gökay Öner, Şevket Demircan, Metehan İlkyaz, Gökhan Karaca, and Ufuk Gültekin, who do not have the authority, continued to contact Serdar Sertçelik in an unauthorized manner and had multiple phone conversations with him, which were recorded."

"THEY WERE DIRECTED ON HOW TO GIVE TESTIMONY"

The indictment states that the defendants directed Sertçelik on how to testify in the Ayhan Bora Kaplan criminal organization case, which is still ongoing at the Ankara 32nd Heavy Penal Court.

According to the indictment, "based on the analysis of the content of the conversations, it is evident that Serdar Sertçelik accepted these directions. It has been determined that the suspects Murat Çelik, Kerem Gökay Öner, Şevket Demircan, Metehan İlkyaz, Gökhan Karaca, and Ufuk Gültekin, who are in the same unit and involved in the same investigation as law enforcement officers, acted in collaboration with the suspect Nurullah Özgür Kopuk."

"THEY DISCLOSED INVESTIGATION INFORMATION THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN KEPT SECRET"

The indictment states that the defendants provided information about judicial instructions and decisions that should have been kept confidential, endangering the integrity of the investigation.

According to the indictment, upon the instruction of Şevket Demircan, Kerem Gökay Öner and Murat Çelik, including the knowledge of the technical bureau of the Ankara Provincial Police Organized Crime Branch, a voice recording device was taken out unlawfully and used for surveillance purposes, despite the lack of a "protection measure decision." It has been determined that they shared certain instructions and decisions regarding other judicial incidents, the identities of which could not be determined, with an unidentified person.

The indictment states that these defendants committed the crimes of "abuse of duty," "disclosure of official secrets," "attempting to influence a witness," and "favoring a criminal." It is also mentioned that the defendants Adem Kaçan, Mustafa Çotuk, Ramazan Kubat, and Erdoğan Sertçelik, the father of Serdar Sertçelik, aided and abetted his escape despite knowing that there was a residence restriction order against him.

REQUESTED PENALTIES

The indictment prepared by the Ankara Public Prosecutor's Office requests a prison sentence of 2 to 11 years for Öner on charges of "abuse of duty," "disclosure of official secrets," and "favoring a criminal." The other police officer defendants, Çelik, Demircan, Gültekin, İlkyaz, Karaca, are also requested to be sentenced to 4 to 15 years in prison for the same crimes, as well as the crime of "attempting to influence a witness." Kopuk is facing a prison sentence of 2 to 4 years for the crime of "attempting to influence a witness." The indictment also requests a prison sentence of 6 months to 5 years for Kaçan, Çotuk, Kubat, and Erdoğan Sertçelik for the crime of "favoring a criminal."

The investigation into the crime of "agreement for a crime" regulated under Article 316 of the Turkish Penal Code, under the title of "Crimes Against the Constitutional Order and the Functioning of This Order", which was decided to be conducted separately under a different investigation number.

The investigation into Serdar Sertçelik, who was a defendant in the Ayhan Bora Kaplan criminal organization case and was arrested in Hungary while being sought with a red notice, was also separated due to the inability to obtain his defense.