At the hearing held at the Istanbul 33rd High Criminal Court, in the hall opposite the Marmara Closed Penal Institution, the public prosecutor asked questions to Mustafa Can Poyraz, the press advisor of the undetained defendant, former CHP Istanbul Provincial Chair Canan Kaftancıoğlu, after his defense.
"How much money was raised in the You Put a Brick Campaign?" To the question, defendant Poyraz said, "I don't know about that." he replied.
Defendant Poyraz said that the prosecutor said, "The license phase of that process is mentioned. There are statements that 24 million liras were sent from the bank and 17 million liras were given in person. This is what it says in the indictment. Do you know what this money is for regarding the money counting issue in these images?" "I know it's a deposit." he replied.
The public prosecutor said, "So, money like 15 million liras is mentioned in those camera records. Have you ever noticed?" Defendant Poyraz answered the question: "He withdrew. At that time, the donation limit per person was 55 thousand liras, now it has increased to 600 thousand liras." he replied.
The prosecutor said, "Gökhan Taşkapan's statement mentions 15 million liras of money, and when you look at the camera records, it appears to be more than 1 million liras. Have you been involved in this process, the process of moving this money?" Upon the question, defendant Poyraz said, "No, no." he said.
Defendant Poyraz asked the prosecutor, "How was this money brought to the building?" "It is already visible in the footage. I said it in the previous court. Fatih Keleş is a member of our party. We were just there too." he replied.
The prosecutor asked, "Was the money there when you went to the office?" The defendant Poyraz answered the question: "I don't remember, but in the end it doesn't matter. You know, he went before us, he went after us." He replied:
Thereupon, the public prosecutor said, "We will decide that." he said.
DEFENSE OF UNARRESTED DEFENDANT ABDULLAH UÇAN
During the continuation of the hearing, another undetained defendant, Abdullah Uçan, tender chief at Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM), made his defense.
Defendant Uçan stated that when the Digital Experience Museum project first came to them, it was a construction work, that is, it involved the purchase of goods and construction activities together, and made the following statement:
"In this regard, it was said that the work came from the presidency and that it should be completed urgently, therefore the tender should be made as an exception. We insisted that this tender was a construction job and that the period would take at least 3 months, and that it would take at least 3 months, and that it would be a construction tender. There was a lot of pressure on us, there were statements that the tender unit did not want to do this job. However, our objections here are critical, not as an authority of approval or rejection. Because the method by which this procurement will be carried out is not us, but upon the request of the deputy general manager and general manager of the requesting unit. "The decision is made with the approval of the board of directors."
Arguing that he was not in any of the commissions regarding the transactions, Uçan declared that the transactions he carried out were in the nature of notification of the decisions taken by the tender commission. Uçan said, "So I do not have the authority to influence the tender." he said.
Presiding Judge Selçuk Aylan said, "You have statements about Onur Aldı. That he put pressure on you." Defendant Uçan said, "Mr. Onur was also saying, 'We need to do this as soon as possible, it comes from the presidency, we need to finish it somehow.' saying." he said.
President Aylan said, "He put pressure on and asked for this tender to be held as an exception tender. He increased the pressure by saying that the presidency wanted the tender to be held quickly. Who is under pressure other than you? Is there any concrete name under pressure other than you? What kind of pressure?" Defendant Uçan answered the questions as follows:
"Yes. I mean, all the personnel in our tender say the same thing. For example, it could be Ömür Tahir Elibaş. That is because they were coming to the unit and putting that pressure on the unit. In other words, 'You need to finish it as soon as possible, don't you want to do it, why are you taking it slow?' like. In other words, the pressure was not from Onur Bey, Deputy General Manager Doğan Hamit Doğruer said, 'There was a lot of pressure coming from above. 'We need to finish it as soon as possible.' " he said.
President Aylan said, "In your statement, 'We signed some documents as a result of their pressure and coercion.' When reminded of his statement that "you said", the defendant Uçan said, "Yes, the documents we signed there are documents that constitute our notification. You know, the tender commission determines the winning company, and we notify them that they have won. In other words, 'This company won, this company did not win.' like. Or notices of invitation to the contract, that is." he said.
Thereupon, chairman Aylan said, "Again, somewhere in your statement, there is a part about Erdinç Çolak. 'Erdinç Çolak would inform Tender Manager Bilal Önver in a list which companies would participate in the tenders related to the Digital Experience Museum.' "You said." Upon these words, defendant Uçan said, "Yes." he replied.
The public prosecutor said, "You have a statement that the time period for the tender made through the announcement was deliberately limited and therefore another company was prevented from entering the tender." Upon this, the defendant Uçan made the following statement:
"In my opinion, these tenders should actually be in the form of construction works. The announcement period for construction tenders is 28 days. For those with lower procedures, it is shorter. Therefore, the shorter the announcement period, the narrower the competition. I said that based on that. We only explained it in terms of legislation. You know, it has to be a construction work. But they said that the president and Murat Ongun wanted the museum to be opened as soon as possible."
The prosecutor asked, "Have you left your job at Kültür AŞ?" To the question, the defendant Uçan said, "I was dismissed. I won the reinstatement case, he appealed." he said.
Defendant Uçan asked the prosecutor: "Why were you removed?" to the question, "Because of these statements." he replied.
The hearing was postponed until tomorrow to continue taking the defendant's defense statements.
The defense of a total of 296 undetained defendants was completed during the hearings.
