Fourth hearing held in Şile Municipality corruption case

The fourth hearing in the case against Şile Municipality took place in Istanbul. Fifty-three defendants are on trial, including detained Mayor Özgür Kabadayı and Berkant Acil, the brother of singer Haluk Levent. Eleven detained defendants appeared in court, while some defendants without detention and their lawyers also attended.

Prosecutors from the Istanbul Anadolu Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office are leading the investigation. The charges include forming and joining a criminal organization, bribery, malfeasance, and disrupting public tenders.

“I do not accept any of these accusations at all.”

Defendant Burç Civan, who said she has worked at the municipality for 19 years and served as acting culture director for six months, denied all accusations. She claimed former officials faced pressure and mobbing after the election, and that staff were repeatedly reassigned or dismissed.

Civan testified that Ferhat Domurcuk said there was no time for an open tender because the festival would take place at the end of July or beginning of August. She stated the event was instead conducted under single-source procurement rules, unlike previous festivals that used open tenders.

She said Sur Müzik officially took over the festival from the municipality, and that Arif Sevik presented himself as the authorized representative and provided the authority documents. According to Civan, all transactions were completed within three days based solely on the company’s offer, without market research.

Civan argued that the work and artists had apparently been decided long in advance, contrasting with previous years when open tenders were always used.