“The judge released the murderer in exchange for bribes”

Allegation: “The judge released Killer in exchange for bribes”

His brother, Yusuf Zambak, declared:

“After the murder, our well -known mutual who tried to reconcile told me that the killer, Veyel Karakoç, would be released at the second hearing even before the trial began. He said they had paid a bribe. It was rumored that the suspect’s lawyer, Vedat A., organized the deal.

Killer’s family: “We take it out”

The lawyer Berat A., testifying as a witness, confirmed these statements, declaring:

“The defendant’s crime was undeniable. There were even security images. Since the case was so clear, I assumed it with confidence. However, I began to hear rumors that the accused would be released before the verdict. The victim’s family said that he was saying that he would be released at the second hearing.

Berat A. also declared that he and two other lawyers persistently presented the appeals for the restart of the accused, but all his requests were denied. The lawyer Berat A. declared that Muhammet Bestami K., who had resigned as a prosecutor after being investigated by Fetö’s links and then became a lawyer, was summoned for Judge Mehmet Mustafa ş. Office:

“The lawyer Muhammet Bestami K. retired from the case after this meeting. I think the judge forced him to leave the case threatening to associate him with Fetö.”

The judge threatened the lawyer

The witness Muhammet Bestami K., in his testimony, declared that the judge had summoned it and told the following:

“He told me that the defendant’s family had filed a complaint against me through Clex, accusing me of being a member of Fetö. He assured me that I would not include the document in the case file. He tried to persuade me that I did not pursue the case too much aggressive.

During the investigation into Judge Mehmet Mustafa ş., Several witnesses testified that the family of the defendant Veyel Karakoç had sold an apartment and numerous cattle, raising 1.5 million TL, which they allegedly paid as a bribe to the judge. The investigation discovered significant evidence that supports this statement.

Assisted in the sale of apartments

During the sale of the apartment, the Kıkhan land registry office sent an investigation to the office of the Chief Prosecutor of the Kırıkhan public, asking if the defendant was still in custody. Although the investigation did not add up to him, Judge President Mehmet Mustafa ş. He responded in 18 minutes, confirming that the defendant was really in custody. This revealed that the judge was actively helping the defendant’s family to end the sale of apartments, relieved to gather bribery money. Several prosecutors and judges who worked at the Kıkhan Palace of Justice at that time declared that they were surprised by the release decision in this case. They affirmed that after the decision, the accusations of bribery extended through the city, significantly damaging the reputation of the Judiciary.

“We didn’t even know the case file”

Despite his role, Judge Mehmet Mustafa ş. He did not issue the ruling alone: he will judge Yazgül K. and Nurseli Özalp U. They also voted for the liberation of the accused, which makes him a unanimous decision. However, what arose from his testimonies painted a disturbing image of judicial negligence. In his testimony during the investigation, Judge Nurseli Özalp U., who had been appointed for the Kıkhan court in 2019 for his first task, admitted that the judges in the panel had ruled cases without even reviewing the files:

“The defendant’s release was completely orchestrated by Judge President Mehmet Mustafa ş., Who forced the decision. When he announced the interim ruling and said:” He decided unanimously to free the defendant, “the employee of the Court Alparan turned around and He looked at.

“Unanimous decision” surprised us

The other member of the Court Panel, Yazgül K., declared in his testimony that he had begun to work at the Kırıkhan Palace of Justice in 2019. He admitted that they attended hearings without reading or knowing the case files, confessing: confessing:

“The President Judge would take the important case files at home and would not allow us, myself and the other panel judge, review them. When he announced that the defendant’s release was a ‘unanimous decision,’ he surprised us. He never consulted us in deliberations , much less allowed us to express our opinions. “

Another alarming aspect of the judicial system faults was that even when Judge Mehmet Mustafa ş. He was on permission, other judges president of the Court never reversed the controversial liberation decision. At one point, the court even ruled that the defendant did not need to attend the hearings. When asked about this, Judge Nurseli Özalp U. admitted:

“These panels were temporary. The President Judge had warned us that we did not order the restart of the suspect. We did not want to go against him or risk any damage, so we dictated against the requests for detention. We even reject the statement of the Family of the victim for the re.

The prosecutor of the case, Süleyman ç., Also testified, stating that during the sixth hearing, he had requested the suspect’s restart. During the same session, the victim’s lawyer presented a motion to eliminate Judge Mehmet Mustafa ş. and officially registered the accusations against him in the minutes of the Court. Prosecutor Süleyman ç. remembered:

“When the accusations were mentioned during the hearing, Judge President Mehmet Mustafa ş. He stressed extremely. He was visibly sweating, cleaning himself with a handkerchief until he was completely soaked. However, despite everything, the suspect was not arrested,”

The suspect had already fled

When the trial reached its seventh and last hearing, the accusations of bribery had been extended by the Kıkhan court and the city itself. At this point, the other two judges of the Court ruled that the suspect should receive a life imprisonment for intentional homicide. With reductions for “unfair provocation” and “good behavior”, the sentence was reduced to 13 years and 4 months in prison. However, the suspect who had been released at the second audience had already disappeared and could not be arrested. Judge Mehmet Mustafa ş. Designed of the final ruling, arguing that the suspect should have been acquitted. In his long dissident opinion, he said that security images were not clear and that the victim had drawn his weapon first. He defined the murder as self -defense, although the victim received five times.

“Exemption from audiences” granted to the suspect

During the investigation into the accusations of bribery, Judge Mehmet Mustafa ş. He denied all the accusations. He argued that Judge Nurseli Özalp U. had reviewed all the case files and was fully aware of the decisions, while Judge Yazgül K. did not work at all, never read case files and even played on his phone during the hearings. He also pointed out that other judges who presided over the case while he was licensed could not order the arrest of the suspect. However, things did not stop there. While Judge Mehmet Mustafa ş. He was licensed, a different president judge and two other judges ruled that the suspect did not even need to attend judicial hearings, a decision known as “VARESTE KARARM”. This meant that the murder suspect received an exemption to appear in the Court. The absurdities in the case continued. The victim’s lawyers presented five separate appeals for the arrest of the suspect, but all were rejected by the superior courts. The judicial collusion scale suggested that this was beyond a single judge, which increased the suspicions of a larger organized network. Judge Mehmet Mustafa ş. He said he did not have an inexplicable increase in wealth, insisting that he was indebted and that any money in his accounts came from family support. The final accusation of the Criminal Court of the 3rd High High concluded that he had accepted a bribe to free the suspect. The investigators discovered that Judge Mehmet Mustafa ş. He had contacted the suspect’s lawyer, Vedat A., eight times by phone. The final accusation, which detailed three main irregularities, was sent to the Court of Cassation, where Judge Mehmet Mustafa ş. will face trial in the next few days.

The murderer had been hiding close

Despite receiving a prison sentence of 13 years and 4 months, the suspect remained in general for a long time. Actually, he had been hiding in Kırıkhan, the same city where he committed the murder. A resident informed the victim’s family that he had seen the suspect several times and that he had denounced the police several times. However, the suspect always managed to leave his location only 10 minutes before the police arrived. Supposedly, the Zambak family asked this person to inform them if he saw the murderer again. Upon receiving information, instead of informing the Kıkhan police, they alerted the police in a neighboring district. As a result, a coordinated operation was carried out, which led to the arrest and detention of Veysel Karakoç. The prison sentence of 13 years and 4 months of the local court was revoked later, and the suspect’s trial is still ongoing.

Note: This article has been translated from “‘Hâkim Rüşvetle Katili Kurtardı’ Iddiasi ” Posted in Birgün Newspaper on February 13, 2025.