Apr 12 2008
Mafia leader testifies in Ergenekon probe
Convicted gang leader Alaattin Çakıcı was brought to the Beşiktaş courthouse on Friday to testify to a prosecutor investigating Ergenekon.
A mafia leader serving four years in prison for heading a crime gang was brought to the Beşiktaş courthouse on Friday to testify to a prosecutor investigating a political crime gang believed to have been carrying out preparations for an overthrow of the government.
On Friday, Alaattin Çakıcı, arguably the most famous mafia boss in Turkey, who was convicted of “leading an organized crime gang” by an İstanbul court last year, was brought to the chambers of prosecutor Zekeriya Öz at the Beşiktaş courthouse yesterday to testify as part of an investigation into Ergenekon, a shadowy and powerful neo-nationalist gang suspected of being behind a number of politically motivated murders, including the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in 2007. Possible links Çakıcı might have to Ergenekon were not immediately clear.
So far 47 suspects have been arrested as part of the Ergenekon investigation, launched after the police found a house full of guns and explosives in İstanbul last June. Those who have been arrested include retired generals and army officials; public figures such as journalists; mafia leaders including drug lords; and the previous suspects of a 1996 car crash in Susurluk which revealed that a police chief at the time had dealings with a mafia leader and a deputy, who wss the chief of a Kurdish clan in the Southeast funded by the state to fight the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Four years for Çakıcı
Çakıcı was convicted by the Istanbul 14th Higher Criminal Court last year in February. The court ruled Çakıcı should be tried under Article 220, Section 1 of the new Turkish Penal Code (TCK), which foresees punishment for “forming a criminal organization.” When handing down Çakıcı’s four-year sentence, the judge said, “The way crime was committed, the significance of the law [Article 220] and the severity of the danger stemming from the crime should be taken into consideration, and a fair and logical punishment should be decided based on the minimum sentence.”
Mafia leader testifies in Ergenekon probe – Today’s Zaman – 12.04.2008 – http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=138845&bolum=101
