Former Ergenekon judge rejects claims he worked to ruin DVD No. 51

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Şengün said he had worked as a judge for 37 years and it was unreasonable to accuse him of attempting to damage any piece of evidence relating to a trial. The DVD is said to include information about suspected military plots to overthrow the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government. There have been claims that the DVD was scratched and rendered unreadable. Many accused Köksal of damaging the DVD at the time he served at the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court, which is the site of the Ergenekon trial.

“I served as a judge for 37 years. It is not possible for a judge to do such a thing [damage evidence]. This is unreasonable. I am not good at using DVDs or computers. People who have links to the issue [the Ergenekon probe] may be putting the blame on me to save themselves,” Şengün told reporters. Ergenekon is an alleged clandestine criminal network with links to the state suspected of plotting to topple the government.

DVD No. 51 was seized from the office of an ex-military officer, one of the key suspects in the investigation, in 2009. The DVD is said to include information about the Sledgehammer coup plot as well as eight other similar plots: Acar (Bold) prepared in 1998; Alev (Flame) of 2002; Altay prepared in 2001; Atak (Attack) of 2002; Barbaros drawn up in 2001; Yarasa (Bat) of 2004; Yılmaz (Dauntless) of 2002 and Yıldırım (Bolt) of 2001. The DVD also discloses the names of members of the judiciary, ministers, politicians and journalists to be arrested once the Sledgehammer coup was successfully staged.

Şengün also stated he has lung cancer and is receiving treatment at an İstanbul hospital.

A copy of the DVD was sent by the General Staff to the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court last week. Lt. Gen. İsmail Hakkı Pekin told the court earlier this year that a copy of the DVD may be held by the General Staff. The court inquired of the General Staff through official correspondence whether it retained a copy of the subject DVD, with the General Staff responding in a confidential notice last week that the DVD is being examined by a military prosecutor, having become the subject of a military investigation, and also providing the DVD to the court.

Today's Zaman reported on Tuesday that DVD No. 51 was preserved by former Ergenekon Prosecutor Zekeriya Öz. Today's Zaman stated that Şengün, then presiding over the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court, asked to examine the original DVD. The courier who delivered the DVD to Şengün in the presence of Ergenekon lawyers noted that the DVD was in good condition at the time. The article also claimed that the courier was then asked by Şengün to file a notice that the DVD had been scratched and was unreadable. Şengün was unaware of the fact that Prosecutor Öz had, as a precautionary measure, made two copies of the DVD. One copy was retained as evidence together with the Sledgehammer coup investigation documents while the second was sent to the military prosecutor's office.