Buğra Gökce: 'Why am I still detained?'

Detained İPA President Buğra Gökce's statement regarding the 600 days he spent in prison was shared on his social media account.

Gökce's statement included the following statements:

"Six 'Hundred' days. 6 'Hundred' days. In a cell where it is difficult to stay even for 6 hours, in 12 square meters, in a 22 square meter wired sky...

Six 'Hundred' days... I don't know why. There is no evidence, no statements against him, no witnesses, no secret witnesses, no active remorse or detained defendants. I have been detained for 20 months on an indictment accusing me of criminal organization and tender rigging based on the signatures I signed as a public servant. 425 detained and undetained defendants were heard, 50 complainants and witnesses spoke. No one says that they even bought me tea or mentions my name. The tenders are not tenders for which the public spends money, but tenders for the operation of revenue-generating municipal facilities and advertising channels. All of them were acquired by municipal subsidiaries (Medya AŞ and Kültür AŞ), as has been the case for 30 years. The specifications have been the same for years. There is not a single act shown to rig the tender. What did I do to rig the tender? There is no answer.

Even though these tenders, which I referred to the council and finalized, have been made in the same way for 30 years, when they come to us, they are described as being done in the name of the organization and with conspiracy. Many friends are in prison for this reason. Those who signed the same tender documents before me are the general managers. Even the minister! I am the one who has been looking at my beloved from a distance for 20 months, to whom I have been married for 17 months! I have exceeded the maximum one-year detention period for the charged crimes by two months, which can only be extended by half in cases of necessity. According to the doctrine, at the end of 18 months, my detention should be automatically lifted and I should be released, but I am still detained. The period of my detention has exceeded the time calculated for the execution of the lower limit of the requested prison sentence. Even if the verdict of conviction against me is made and becomes final, I should not stay in prison even for a day. Why am I still detained? Why are we still in prison? "He who has 'face' should answer once, not six times!"