Suspended Şile Mayor Özgür Kabadayı is before the judge! He announced his monthly income

12 detained defendants, including Özgür Kabadayı and Berkant Emergency, were brought to the hearing at the Istanbul Anatolian 27th High Criminal Court.

Some undetained defendants, a complainant, party lawyers and relatives of the defendants also attended the hearing. During his identification, the defendant Özgür Kabadayı stated that he was a high school graduate and his monthly income was around 150-200 thousand liras.

After the identification of the other defendants, defense statements began.

In the 652-page indictment prepared by the Terrorism and Organized Crimes Investigation Bureau of the Istanbul Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, a total of 53 defendants were included, including the suspended Şile Mayor Özgür Kabadayı and Haluk Levent's brother Berkant Emergency.

In the indictment, it was claimed that after Özgür Kabadayı, who was elected Mayor of Şile in 2024, and his Private Secretary Oğuz Kaçmaz took office, they received bribes from people waiting for the zoning and settlement transactions to be completed, in exchange for the completion of their transactions.

The indictment stated that the tender held within the scope of the Şile Cloth Festival held in 2024 was made through the direct procurement method and that the tender was rigged in this way.

In the indictment, which states that the defendants, deputy mayor Tuncay Tolga Özçakmak, lawyer Ali Şafak, zoning manager Aslı Kotan and license chief Evren Buçan, were later transferred to Şile Municipality, it was stated that upon the arrival of this team, all zoning and settlement licenses in Şile Municipality were given in return for bribes.

It was stated in the indictment that the business owners, whose license transactions were on hold, reached out to Deputy Mayor Tuncay Tolga Özçakmak for license transactions, that Özçakmak directed the business owners who approached him to Ali Şafak, the municipality's lawyer, and the license chief Evren Buçan, that they demanded the money they determined according to the status of the business as a bribe, and that the licenses were issued after the bribe was given.

In the indictment, it is stated that in low-profile jobs, money such as 10-15 thousand dollars was requested in person, in high-profile jobs, the municipality was made to purchase large sums of money such as materials, technical equipment or gift certificates, and the licenses of the people who gave bribes were given quickly. In the examination of the mobile phone of the defendant Oğuz Kaçmaz, who was caught during the operation carried out within the scope of the investigation, two handwritten lists were seized in the recently deleted section, and notes were kept on the lists of the people from whom bribes were taken and the money distributed from the bribes received. It was stated.

In the prepared indictment, "It has been understood that the leader of the criminal organization Özgür Kabadayı established a unique structure after becoming mayor, his first goal was to create a fund to be used in the next election, he carried out his first actions after being elected mayor in order to generate income for this fund, and the public power he had was used to generate income from these actions." evaluation was included.

In the indictment, "It has been determined that the organization's managers and members with special qualifications within the organization are increasing their assets day by day within the scope of the organization's activities, that they are developing their social areas and activities thanks to the opportunities brought by public power and material enrichment, and in this context, they ensure that the actions are carried out by strictly adhering to the leader of the organization and passing the instructions to the subordinate members without question and precisely." expressions were used.

In the indictment, it was stated that the criminal organization for profit, of which Şile Mayor Özgür Kabadayı, who was arrested and suspended from his duty, was the leader, provided income to the criminal organization for profit by giving the festival to be held by the municipality to the firm of the defendant Berkant Emergency in exchange for bribes. According to the expert report, it was stated that 20 million 858 thousand 333 liras of public damage was caused by the tender for the 35th International Şile Cloth Culture and Art Festival.

In the indictment demanding that the defendant Kabadayı be punished with imprisonment from 33 years and 3 months to 92 years for the crimes of "extortion by force", "forgery of official documents", "fraud within the scope of the cooperative activities of cooperative managers during the commercial activities of persons who are traders or company managers or acting on behalf of the company", "fraud to the detriment of public institutions and organizations", "taking bribes", "establishing an organization for the purpose of committing a crime", Kabadayı is accused of organizing a crime. Since he was the ringleader, he was asked to be punished separately for all actions.

The indictment requested imprisonment from 14 to 37 years for the detained defendant Berkant Emergency for the crimes of "fraud during the commercial activities of persons who are merchants or company managers or acting on behalf of the company, within the framework of the activities of an organization formed to commit crimes, to the detriment of public institutions and organizations", "forgery of official documents" and "bribery", while the other 51 defendants were requested to be imprisoned at varying rates starting from 4 years.