Details emerge in story of fugitive coup attempt prime suspect Adil Özsüz

Documents show that Öksüz, who was detained after the coup attempt but who was released shortly after and then disappeared, was among the three civilians captured along with 26 soldiers near the base trying to flee.  

After being taken to a gendarmerie station for interrogation, Öksüz was taken to a men’s restroom upon his request and was later subjected to body search along with 28 other suspects. While the suspects’ belongings were taken in by gendarmerie officers, no further actions other than identity checks were taken before they were sent to police. 

A gendarmerie officer who used the same restroom as Öksüz found a device that Özsüz admitted to being the owner of, claiming to have dropped it while being searched.  

Upon the arrival of the police at the Kazan gendarmerie station, to which the suspects were initially brought, 18 people - not including Öksüz - were sent to the Ankara Anti-Terrorism Bureau while the rest remained in the gendarmerie station to be taken to the bureau later. 

While the 18 suspects who arrived first at the police station were all arrested, no vehicle came to the gendarmerie station to pick up the remaining 11 people including Öksüz. Meanwhile, that remaining 11 all agreed to plead guilty to soldiers rather than the police.  

Öksüz was later taken to the Sincan Public Prosecutor’s Office, as part of a group of 98 suspects, after which their interrogation began. 

It is reported that no information was presented either to the prosecutors or to the judge demanding the arrest of the suspects, and the dossier only contained a report mistakenly saying that all 98 suspects were soldiers. 

The fact that Öksüz was a civilian was only discovered by prosecutors during his testimony. His release came after he appeared before the judge, who released him on probation after finding that no other evidence had been collected against Öksüz. 

Öksüz disappeared after being released and is still on the run.