Cumhuriyet in Silivri... Day 103 in the IMM case: Secret witnesses testify in court

The third hearing of the IMM case, in which 436 defendants, 53 of whom are detained, including the elected Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Mayor and presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, continues today in the new courtroom in Silivri.

Within the scope of the third hearing, which started on Monday, it was decided to take the statements of 60 complainants, witnesses and secret witnesses.

While the statements of 38 witnesses and complainants were completed in two days, it is expected that the statements of various witnesses will be taken along with the secret witnesses İlke, Zeytin, Martı, Gürgen on the 104th day of the hearing.

New Party Chairman Özgür Özel stated that in December 2025, the secret witness codenamed "İlke" declared that he officially withdrew all his statements and his secret witness status shortly after his statements.

It was noteworthy that the statements of the secret witness codenamed "Meşe", who made statements against İmamoğlu at the beginning of the investigation but was not included in the indictment, were also included among the statements of the secret witness codenamed "İlke" in the indictment.

11.30 - HEARING STARTED

While the detainees were brought into the hall with applause, the hearing began after the court committee took its place.

Ekrem İmamoğlu's lawyer, Tora Beijing, spoke at the beginning of the hearing and requested that they be heard as normal witnesses in court, on the grounds that there was no threat to the secret witnesses and that they could follow their gestures and facial expressions.

The presiding judge rejected this request, saying, "The witness applied this way to avoid being harmed."

Later, Yiğit Gökçehan Koçoğlu, the lawyer of İSTTELKOM General Manager Melih Geçek, said about the secret witness İlke, "He became a secret witness on November 18, and on November 20, I personally made an application that I do not want to be a secret witness anymore. It is against the procedure for him to become a secret witness when there is such a request from the witness himself."

SECRET WITNESS GÜRGEN: “I DID NOT SEE ANY MONEY TAKEN, THAT IS WHAT WAS TALKED ABOUT”

Gürgen, one of the secret witnesses whose statements regarding Ağaç AŞ were later consulted, was connected to the court via SEGBİS.

The presiding judge asked Gürgen about his statement, which he mentioned in his statement, that Ağaç A.Ş. employees received money.

Gürgen said, "There is nothing I have heard or seen, this is what was said."