This photograph shows a gendarmerie team in front of the building of Bolu Municipality.
Tanju Özcan, the suspended mayor of the northwestern city of Bolu, was sentenced on Oct. 20 to seven years, three months and 15 days in prison on extortion charges, while the court ordered his continued detention and imposed a four-year political ban.
A criminal court in Bolu handed down the sentence against Özcan and co-defendants Ali Sarıyıldız and Süleyman Can for repeated extortion through coercion.
The court also sentenced Can to seven years, three months and 15 days in prison and imposed a four-year political ban on him. All three defendants will remain in custody.
In his final statement before the verdict, Özcan argued that the case was intended to neutralize him politically.
“There is no crime and no criminal in this case. The [financial] report cleared everyone. A theater is being staged here,” Özcan said.
The court also convicted Özcan and Sarıyıldız of aggravated fraud, handing down prison sentences ranging from one year and 15 days to one year and eight months for each victim, along with judicial fines.
However, the court suspended Özcan’s prison sentence for the fraud charges and deferred the announcement of the verdict against Sarıyıldız. Both defendants were released from custody in connection with those charges, although they will remain detained under the separate extortion convictions.
Özcan and Sarıyıldız were acquitted of bribery and violating a law governing relations between public institutions and associations and foundations, as the court found the charges had not been proven.
