The first message from the arrested Mehmet Pehlivan

Mehmet Pehlivan, the lawyer of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Mayor and CHP presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, was arrested by the court to which he was referred with a request for arrest after being summoned to give a statement by the prosecutor's office.

Following his arrest, Pehlivan shared a message on his social media account. Pehlivan's message included the following statements:

“I was arrested on the slander of ‘being a member of a criminal organization.’ However, the only organizations I am a member of are the Union of Turkish Bar Associations and the Istanbul Bar Association. In other words, this country’s honorable defense tradition. I have never been a part of a criminal structure or a conspiracy scenario. I will not be. This is a clear judicial conspiracy. The only reason, as everyone knows, is that I am Ekrem İmamoğlu’s lawyer. Their aim is to intimidate, silence and isolate. They are trying in vain. Because we lawyers do not surrender. I am addressing this distorted mentality that considers being a lawyer for İmamoğlu a crime: If you are declaring this duty as a ‘shirt of fire,’ know that we have already put on that shirt and we will not burn. I will go and hundreds of others will replace me. Because we are on the side of what is right. Because we do not bow, we do not remain silent and we do not give up. Because our practice of law does not bow.”

HIS STATEMENT CAME OUT: I DID NOT VIOLATE THE HONOR OF MY PROFESSION

On the other hand, Mehmet Pehlivan's statement to the judge was also revealed. In his statement, he said, “There is only one reason for me to be here today, I am Ekrem İMAMOĞLU’s lawyer, that is, I am fulfilling the defense duty that the law has assigned to me, but unfortunately this duty is not seen as a legal activity but as an action that needs to be punished, we are in front of an investigation authority that sees defense not as an essential element of the judiciary but as a threat that needs to be silenced, the allegations directed at me today are based on some abstract, empty and even openly slanderous statements that are not clear how they were obtained, these statements are far from being serious enough to create any suspicion, let alone a serious measure such as arrest. I am faced with a slander that I spoke ‘in a threatening manner’ over a phone call that I never had. It is striking that the person in question cannot directly say that I was threatened, instead he resorts to the concept of ‘threatening’, which is a vague and subjective expression that has no equivalent in terms of Criminal Law. This choice, including the accusation itself, shows how baseless the accusation is and how the judiciary It clearly shows that the authorities are being tried to be directed with uncertainties, the attorney's practice that I have put forward so far is not based on threats, but on struggle, law and truth. Threats and slander are ways and methods that have no place in our attorney's practice and that we never resort to, all these unfounded allegations and fictions that are incompatible with reality are no longer isolated cases, but have turned into systematic targeting directed at the defense in a conscious and organized manner. I would like to ask openly from here, who expects what kind of benefit from a lawyer being targeted in such a planned manner just because he is performing his professional duty... That is why I am saying it very clearly, I will not bow down to these slanders and these targeting... I will neither threaten nor surrender to threats. I am a lawyer and I will not allow the honor of my profession to be violated,” said Pehlivan, adding that the allegations against Adem Soytekin, who benefited from effective repentance, were completely untrue.

“I WILL NOT LEARN HOW TO BE A LAWYER FROM THE PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE”

The wrestler made the following statement:

A historical fact is not written incorrectly, but deliberately distorted. The fact that the investigation authority ignores this contradiction shows that it focuses on the purpose of the statement rather than its content. This situation serves a perception operation and punishing the defense rather than the legal process. Instead of pursuing this narrative created by manipulating dates, names and events, the prosecutor's office should pursue the truth and justice. I cannot bring myself to demand release because my presence here is not a result of a crime, but a profession and a stance. In the face of this picture, I do not demand a privilege or mercy for myself, I only and only demand the application of the law. Law has a meaning for everyone, law has a meaning if it exists for everyone, if the principles of law are to be applied here today, the result is already clear. This request for detention in the name of law will be rejected. The prosecutor's referral letter teaches me how to be a lawyer, I will not learn how to be a lawyer from the prosecutor's office.

Source: NEWS CENTER