The trial of 86 suspects on charges of membership in the Ergenekon group -- a criminal network accused of plotting to overthrow the government -- resumes today after the first hearing was adjourned on Monday due to lack of space, but experts have expressed serious concern that the methods suggested to circumvent the problem of space could damage the judicial process and the principle of a fair trial.


The landmark trial started on Monday but quickly descended into disarray as the special courtroom -- a makeshift area from a regular hall of Silivri Prison -- proved to be too small to seat all the defendants and their lawyers, as well as other observers in the case. To remedy this, the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court announced that it will be trying those suspects who are in being held in custody for the duration of the trial and other suspects who were released after their first police interrogation at different times, a decision which has sparked concerns. The court also announced, as a measure to address the initial problems encountered in the first hearing, that only a small number of reporters from news agencies would be given access to the room in today's trial, as opposed to the previous hearing rule which allowed up to 30 press members in the room.

Other reporters will follow the hearing on monitors placed outside the courtroom.

The Justice Ministry yesterday sent a delegation to the hall serving as the courtroom in Silivri after the first day's chaotic hearing, to inspect the location. The delegation finished its work in Silivri yesterday and is due to submit a report to the ministry.

A professor of criminal law, Fatih Selami Mahmutoğlu, from İstanbul University said the Ergenekon hearings showed that Turkish courtrooms are inadequate for trials with a large number of suspects. In a statement in Radikal yesterday, Mahmutoğlu said: "In my opinion, this [trial] should not take place … in a prison. The security systems and the psychological environment there will inevitably create problems for the families of the suspects and the public at large to follow the trial."

He also said that dividing suspects on the basis of their custody status created too many problems with the suspects' right to a fair trial. "For one thing, everyone should be able to watch the trial from beginning to end whether they are in custody or not. Once the integrity of the trial is destroyed, it goes against the principles and spirit of criminal justice. The case should be judged as a whole."

Durmu? Tezcan, another professor of law from İstanbul University, agreed and said segregating the suspects was a bad idea. "Every single word said over the course of a trial in a fair court process should be audible to each defendant, so they can give a verbal defense statement to the court whenever it is necessary," Tezcan said.

Ankara Bar Association President Ahsen Co?ar also expressed concern that the problem of space encountered in the first hearing might unduly influence the judicial process. He called on the authorities to take measures to prevent such an outcome.

Meanwhile, Justice Minister Mehmet Ali ?ahin announced yesterday that the ministry is planning to build a sports hall inside the prison grounds in Silivri, which will be used as the venue for the Ergenekon trial. He said a sports hall had already been planned for the prison, but the project had never been completed. He said they hope to have the sports hall completed by the end of January.

New judge request denied

The İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court announced yesterday that it had rejected a request from the lawyers of Ergenekon suspect Doğu Perinçek to appoint a new judge to the Ergenekon trial. In another related development, the İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court, currently trying seven charged with the murder of İhsan Güven and Sibel Güven, has requested that the murder case be merged with the Ergenekon trial, since mention of the couple's murder is made in the Ergenekon indictment. The presiding judge has ordered all case files to be transferred to Zekeriya Öz, the chief prosecutor in the Ergenekon case.

The existence of Ergenekon, a behind-the-scenes network attempting to use social and psychological engineering to shape the country in accordance with its own ultranationalist ideology, has long been suspected, but the current investigation into the group began only in 2007, when a house in the Ümraniye district of İstanbul that was being used for an arms cache was discovered by police.

The investigation was expanded to reveal elements of what in Turkey is called the "deep state," finally proving the existence of the network, which is currently being accused of trying to incite chaos and disorder in order to trigger a coup against the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government. The indictment, made public last month, indicates that Ergenekon was behind a series of political assassinations over the past two decades. The group is also suspected of being behind the murder of Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist killed by a teenager in 2007. Eighty-six suspects, 47 of whom are currently under arrest, are accused of having suspicious links to the gang. Suspects will start appearing before the court on Oct. 20 and will face accusations that include "membership in an armed terrorist group," "attempting to bring down the government," "inciting people to rebel against the republic of Turkey" and other similar crimes.