Özgür Özel: They took Türkiye to the darkness of the Middle Ages and attacked its right to defense

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel reacted to the arrest of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Mayor and CHP presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu's lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan with a video he shared on his social media account.

Özel said the following in the video he shared with the note, "This happened in the 3rd month of the March 19 Coup! They arrested our President Ekrem's lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan because he defended his client. They took Türkiye to the darkness of the Middle Ages and attacked the right to defense. I am complaining to our nation about the understanding that has been forced down the throat of the lawyer so that their perceptions do not collapse. Shame on you!":

"Today is the third month of the March 19 Coup and this happened at the end of the third month. They just arrested Ekrem İmamoğlu's lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan. Normally they can't even take him in for questioning, permission from the Ministry of Justice is needed. He reminded them of this, they referred him for arrest and then arrested him. However, it is clearly written how a lawyer will be tried.

They are putting Mehmet Pehlivan in prison because he defended the person he defended. His job is to defend Ekrem İmamoğlu. What did he do? He allegedly tried to obtain the confessional statements. While pro-government channels are broadcasting the confessional statements one by one, there is no crime, but they are putting Mehmet Pehlivan in prison because he is trying to learn what slanders they are dealing with.

THEY THREW IT UP WHEN THEY LEARNED THAT THE MASAK REPORT WOULD REVEAL THE FAKE

Today, they take a person's chief lawyer back hundreds of years, a lawyer who knows everything, even how to refute the allegations. If Mehmet Pehlivan had not existed, they would have convinced everyone that Ekrem İmamoğlu bought a 100 lira land for 2 lira, and that 98 lira was a bribe. Mehmet Pehlivan is the lawyer who proved that a loan was used for 98 lira, and that 2 lira was a down payment. Yesterday, he personally brought it to me, said, 'There is this latest MASAK report, my chairman', and marked it in yellow and blue, the yellows are the right moves, these are slander... He said, 'This is the first time MASAK has been caught in a lie'. Then he said, 'They said artificial intelligence makes mistakes'. He had proven that 70 percent of the MASAK report was a lie and wrong. They probably wanted him to tell this. When they learned that they were caught red-handed and that Mehmet Pehlivan was going to reveal the truth of the latest MASAK report, they took him and put him in jail. Can such a plot happen? Can such cruelty happen? What does it mean to throw a person's lawyer in jail? Can the activity of being a lawyer be a crime? Didn't you study at the same law schools as the judges who ignore the right to defense? It's impossible to believe.

I am complaining to our entire nation about the mentality that chokes the lawyer and locks him up in Silivri so that the perception they are trying to create will not collapse when the lawyer who defends the person well realizes that they have destroyed the evidence. Shame on them."

This happened in the 3rd month of the March 19 Coup! They arrested our President Ekrem's lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan because he defended his client. They took Türkiye to the darkness of the Middle Ages and attacked the right to defense.

The understanding that has been forced down the throat of the lawyer so that their perceptions do not collapse is a threat to our nation… pic.twitter.com/OgZhhsO33m

— Ozgur Ozel (@eczozgurozel) June 19, 2025

Source: NEWS CENTER