Ali Bulaç: My Greatest Wish is Release of the Journalists

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The first hearing in the trial of Zaman Daily, in which 31 media employees including closed Zaman daily's former writers and employees Şahin Alpay, Ali Bulaç, Mümtazer Türköne, Ahmet T. Alkan, Nuriye Akman and Mustafa Ünal are standing trial was held yesterday (September 18).

Of the defendants detained on remand, Ali Bulaç said, “Which crime I am committing with which article of mine? I am exercising my freedom of expression. Intriguer, disorder and warmongering are my red line”.

Some highlights from the statements of Bulaç are as follows:

Bulaç: "Prosecutor would have demanded three death penalties had it not been abolished"

"I am facing three aggravated life imprisonments and 15 years in prison. If capital punishment had not been abolished, they would have demanded the death penalty for me due to six articles of mine. This is the punishment demanded also for the person who killed 249 people on July 15 [coup attempt]. This demand from the prosecutor's office will go down in history.

"For 14 months, I have been sitting behind bars in the prison ward with murderers released on probation, with guardians my grandchild's age, under inhumane conditions where even eye contact is prohibited.

"Defence is sacred. There is no justice without defence. I will make my statement of defence. But I can meet with my attorney for only 10 minutes which are being recorded, and I can only access the documents my attorney sends me after two days. Can this be considered a fair defence?

"Many theses have been written about me. The common opinion of these writers regarding me is that I am an Islamist who embraces libertarian, pluralist and individualist Muslimism.

"I am a writer. The prosecutor referred to six articles I wrote but did not say which crime they constituted. My whole life, I obeyed the law whether I liked it or not. I did not violate any law".

"I thought that this organization was a charity foundation like our former President Gül did"

"It was not considered a Fethullahist Terror Organization back in 2012-2013. Even though PDY (Parallel State Organization) was referred to as an organization carrying out illegal activities, they would not say what it was exactly. The organization formerly called the [Gülen] Community/Service was determined to be an armed terrorist organization on July 15. Erdoğan had the last word on July 16, stating that "it has been revealed that this is an armed terrorist organization" to this group which had been called a Parallel State Organization up until July 15.

"And I do accept that this organization constitutes a terrorist organization in terms of its elements on July 15. But even back then, I was not a member of this organization, when it was called the Community. Actions that do not constitute a crime cannot be considered an act of the organization unless a direct link to the organization is found.

"Writing a column, writing a newspaper article cannot be considered a membership affiliation with a terrorist organization. When have I ever participated in an armed protest, whom have I threatened, whom did I target? Did I attend a bomb-demonstration, did I use any fake identification? Which armed terrorist organization on the earth has a union and a foundation operating with the permission by the state? Can there ever be a terrorist organization center in the middle of İstanbul? Does anyone help a terrorist organization knowingly?

"How can a person in my position know about this organization while even high-ranking authorities of the state did not? Am I a soothsayer? I also thought that this organization was a charity foundation like our former President Abdullah Gül did.

"Which crime am I committing with which article?"

"It did not cross my mind that the Community would attempt a coup, but I also did not foresee that the authorities responsible for the security of the state would be so blindsided".

"My greatest wish is release of the journalists"

"I would like to ask the prosecutor: A newspaper must be approved/examined by 15 people before getting published. The article is sent to the Press Prosecutor. The employees are registered to the social security institution. The Prime Ministry provides the accreditation and then the newspapers are being prepared. The President takes one with him to the plane. The ads of the newspaper are placed on the billboards. Its employees retire and receive retirement payments... Well how can these newspapers be the publications of an armed terrorist organization? If so, why didn't you close them? Did you set up a trap for us employees?

"If I a member of the organization, why did they not warn me before July 15, that 'dangerous things would happen'?

"What is my crime?

"If it is constitutional crime: I did not use any weapons. If it is giving rise to a perception: There is no such crime at the Turkish Criminal Code. Did I participate in the coup attempt? Did I open fire on innocent people? Did I launder money on behalf of the organization? Did I launder money abroad? Did I steal exam questions?

"I did not become a member of an illegal organization. It is not possible that I was accepted as a member by FETÖ anyway. It is against the structure of the organization and natural flow of life that FETÖ makes me a member. Believing in myself and justice, I did not flee abroad".

What happened?

Following the coup attempt on July 15, 2016, operations began against media organizations known to be affiliated with the Gülen Community and tens of journalists and media employees were taken into custody.

Osman Nuri Öztürk, Süleyman Sargın, Şeref Yılmaz, Ahmet Metin Sekizkardeş, Alaattin Güner, Faruk Akkan, Mümtazer Türköne, Şahin Alpay, Ahmet Turan Alkan, Lale Kemal, Ali Bulaç, Sedat Yetişkin, Murat Avcıoğlu, Yüksel Durgut, Zafer Özsoy, Cuma Kaya, Hakan Taşdelen, Osman Nuri Arslan and Nuriye Ural were taken into custody during the first wave of detentions on September 27, 2016. (EA/BK/DG/TK)