Judge in Sanctions Case Dismisses a ‘Conspiracy Theory’
United States said that The defense,
Judge Berman also cited questions in which he said Mr. Harrison appeared to be arguing
that Mr. Korkmaz’s police promotions were mostly the result of "alleged Gulenist backing." The judge said the defense’s "illogical foreign conspiracy theory has no foundation in the record, and is, in reality, unpersuasive and borderline unprofessional, as a diversion from the issues to be decided in this case." Mr. Harrison, asked later for comment, said: "I disagree.
The judge focused his criticism on the cross-examination of a former Turkish police officer, Huseyin Korkmaz, who fled Turkey last year with evidence from a 2013 Turkish corruption investigation
that he had supervised, which he later gave to United States authorities.
In one exchange during the cross-examination that the judge cited critically, a defense lawyer, Todd Harrison, noted
that Mr. Korkmaz had been freed from prison after a Turkish judge received a letter from Mr. Gulen, asking that Mr. Atilla and others be released.
you conspire with Reza Zarrab to evade sanctions?" "Never," Mr. Atilla said through an interpreter. that Did
"This sounds very illogical to me," Mr. Korkmaz responded, denying that he knew Mr. Gulen or the Turkish judge.
But on Friday, the case took an unusual turn when the judge, Richard M. Berman of Federal District Court, sharply
criticized Mr. Atilla’s lawyers for injecting a longstanding Turkish political dispute into the case.