The trial of 86 suspected members of Ergenekon, a criminal network accused of plotting to overthrow the government, resumed with no major problems yesterday after the first hearing was adjourned on Monday amidst chaos due to a lack of space. 

The landmark trial started on Monday but quickly descended into disarray as the special courtroom -- a makeshift area in 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 would be trying those suspects who are being held in custody for the duration of the trial separately from suspects who were released after their police interrogations.

Forty-six suspects who are being held in custody were taken to the courtroom in the morning. Some of the other suspects who had been released pending trial also arrived in the morning, demanding to be let inside.

The court’s idea of segregating the suspects in the face of the court hall’s spatial realities has been criticized by jurists and legal associations on the basis that such a division could damage the judicial process and the right to a fair trial.

Suspect İbrahim Benli, who has been released though he still faces charges of membership in the criminal network, attempted to enter the courtroom, saying, "I want to hear who testifies in what way." Benli was detained in the Ergenekon investigation on March 21 of this year along with Cumhuriyet daily chief columnist İlhan Selçuk (later released due to poor health), former İstanbul University Rector Kemal Alemdaroğlu and Workers' Party (İP) Chairman Doğu Perinçek, who remain in custody.

Benli told reporters: "My house, my office and my daughter's house were searched by the police. So many things have happened, and now the court is telling me not to come. This is unacceptable. I am being accused of hosting a dinner on Dec. 9, 2007 in my house in Çatalca attended by Doğu Perinçek, Güler Kömürcü and Kemal Alemdaroğlu. In that meeting, Perinçek sang folk songs. Tolga Yarman played the piano. They called this a 'clandestine meeting.' They said I was providing 'armed training.' The only thing I did was cook kebabs. I was turned into a gang member. Now I want to listen to the hearing, even if they tell me not to come. I want to hear who says what in their testimonies."

As another measure to prevent chaos and overcrowding, only two relatives for each suspect were allowed inside. Retired Gen. Veli Küçük, accused of being one of Ergenekon's leaders, was accompanied by his wife, Necla, and son Mehmet Küçük. His daughter, Zeynep Küçük, was also in the room as the former general's lawyer. Other relatives of suspects in the case who watched yesterday's proceedings included Perinçek's wife, Şule, retired Capt. Muzaffer Tekin's wife, Fatma Tekin, and the brother and sister of Hüseyin Görüm. The Republican People's Party (CHP) Şahin Mengü and retired Gen. Servet Cömert also came to watch the trial.

Only six news agencies were given access to the room in yesterday's trial, while other reporters followed the hearing on television monitors placed outside the courtroom.

There was no disarray outside the courtroom as there had been on Monday, since there separate entrances were arranged this time for visitors and members of the press. The number of protestors supporting the Ergenekon suspects was also significantly lower than at Monday's hearing.

Cumhuriyet newspaper accepted as co-plaintiff

The court yesterday accepted an appeal from the Cumhuriyet newspaper for co-plaintiff status in the case. Cumhuriyet, the court found, had suffered sufficient damage at hands of Ergenekon to qualify them as a co-plaintiff under Turkish law. A hand grenade attack on the daily's offices in 2006 was attributed to Ergenekon in the indictment.

Another request for co-plaintiff status came from lawyer Özcan Yücel, who yesterday requested co-plaintiff status for former Human Rights Association (İHD) President Akın Birdal individually. Birdal was the target of a shooting in 1998 that he narrowly survived. The shooting has also been attributed to Ergenekon.

Also in yesterday's trial, İstanbul Prosecutor Mehmet Ali Pekgüzel argued against co-plaintiff requests from Diyarbakır Mayor Osman Baydemir and Democratic Society Party (DTP) deputies Ahmet Türk and Sebahat Tuncel on the grounds that they were not "harmed by the crime," a necessary condition for co-plaintiff status under the law. The DTP deputies requested to participate in the case because of unresolved murders of Kurdish businessmen in the Southeast in the late '90s that have been attributed to Ergenekon. These requests were rejected by the court.

Meanwhile, there were brief discussions between the suspects and the judges. Suspect Bekir Öztürk claimed that his lawyers were being harassed by the prosecutors and that he would be attending the trials without a lawyer to protest this treatment. Presiding judge Köksal Şengün said he would not be hearing the suspect's testimony without a lawyer, after which Öztürk agreed to bring a lawyer to the next hearing.

Another discussion occurred between the defense lawyers and the panel of judges. Kadir Kartal, representing suspect Kemal Kerinçsiz, increased tension when he demanded in a loud voice: "Who is this man named Tuncay Güney in the indictment? Where is he? Is he working for the CIA [the US Central Intelligence Agency], Mossad? This has not been thoroughly investigated. The law here, excuse my language, is being raped. Ergenekon is a sacred value of this nation." Presiding Judge Şengün told the lawyer to change his style of speech or he would not be heard. He also threatened to not allow the lawyer in the courtroom again if he continued speaking in the same manner.

The lawyer also said the word Ergenekon and the trial should not be associated with each other. He called on a government decree to be issued to ensure this.

Güney is a former journalist whose ties with various secret services, both domestic and international, have been documented. Güney is also an Ergenekon informant who has continued to make statements about the case in Turkish newspapers and even on television since the expansion of the investigation last year. He lives under tight security in Canada.

Ergenekon is the name of an ancient Turkish legend that describes the history of the Turks.

Ergenekon crimes

The existence of Ergenekon has long been suspected, but the current investigation into the group began only in 2007, when a house in İstanbul's Ümraniye district that was being used as an arms depot was discovered by police.

The indictment, made public in July, claims that the Ergenekon network is behind a series of political assassinations carried out over the past two decades for the ultimate purpose of triggering a military coup and taking over the government. The victims include secularist journalist Uğur Mumcu, long believed to have been assassinated by Islamic extremists in 1993; the head of a business conglomerate, Özdemir Sabancı, who was shot dead by militants of the extreme-left Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) in his high-security office in 1996; and secularist academic Necip Hablemitoğlu, who was also believed to have been killed by Islamic extremists in 2002.

Suspects face various accusations, including "membership in an armed terrorist group," "attempting to destroy the government," "inciting people to rebel against the Republic of Turkey" and other similar crimes.

Todayszaman