The IMM trial, with 435 defendants, 51 of whom are detained, including Elected Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, continues on its 88th day in the new courtroom of Marmara Closed Prison in Silivri.
Within the scope of the second hearing of the case, which started on August 17, 263 of the 325 undetained defendants, whose defenses continued to be taken, completed their defenses.
It is expected that the defense of 62 people who have not yet made a defense will be taken this week.
On the other hand, another detention review will be held on Thursday.
The first session of the case started with 110 detainees, and in the last detention review held on September 3, two people were released and the total number of releases reached 59.
Cumhuriyet is monitoring the IMM Case on site.
Here is what happened moment by moment in Silivri...
The hearing started after the detained defendants and the court panel took their places.
The first person to come to the podium for defense was Hopa Mayor Utku Cihan.
An arrest warrant was issued for Cihan last week because he did not participate in the case, but Cihan had been present in the courtroom several times before to make his defense.
Stating that he was accused of "rigging the tender, gaining unfair advantage, preventing competition and sharing confidential information" in three tenders related to the period he served as the Head of Transportation Department at Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Cihan said, "I did not provide confidential information to any company, I did not instruct any public official to favor a company, I did not take any action to provide unfair advantage to any person or company."
Stating that the tenders within the scope of Actions 96, 100 and 101 were made through open tender through EKAP, Cihan said that the indictment did not reveal what fraudulent behavior he carried out, what information he gave to whom and which company he prevented from participating in the tender.
Arguing that the claim of public damage is based on an assumption, not an actual damage, Cihan stated that the indictment claims that the closure of tenders to partial bids hinders competition, but this is technically not true.
Cihan said:
"I am here today to respond to the allegations against myself, and I want the allegations against me to be evaluated with concrete evidence. I have been a municipal manager for 18 years. During these 18 years, I have never put any interest before the public's interest. I have not done anything for which I cannot be held accountable.
There is a file in front of us. I have 18 years of effort in that file. I just want the legal evaluation that I am entitled to. I want to separate the concrete from the hypothetical. I would like not to confuse an administrative evaluation with criminal responsibility. I do not want actions that do not belong to me to be attributed to me. I just want justice, judge. “I want my work to be evaluated in all its aspects.”
After his defense, when İmamoğlu asked how he was appointed to the IMM Transportation Department, Cihan said that his appointment had nothing to do with personal acquaintance and that he started working at IMM after becoming a municipality employee in Izmir, going through the human resources process.
Cihan said, "I did not come to this position because I do not know anyone, not just you, but anyone. I believe that I came to this process completely with merit."
When İmamoğlu asked whether he had been given orders or instructions outside of technical processes during his term of office, Cihan cited an intersection project as an example.
Cihan said that after İmamoğlu examined the project in question, he asked him, "Is this intersection okay, do you know what you are doing? Is it suitable for you?" He stated that he asked, and upon his response, "Yes, it is appropriate," İmamoğlu said, "Okay then."
Regarding Cihan's appointment to office, İmamoğlu said, "Our main principles are very basic, merit and being a citizen of this country. We did not fill this place with relatives, spouses, or friends. We worked with our qualified friends and companions like Utku Bey. May God protect this nation from nepotism, because the nation pays the price."
