Judge forgets defendant in Gezi Park trial

A judge, who is hearing the Gezi Park trial, yesterday tried issuing a search warrant for Hakan Çelikkaya - one of the 26 suspects charged with involvement in various crimes during the Gezi Park protests - who he thought was absent from the hearing. While the judge was writing the search warrant for the suspect in a report, the suspect warned the judge by saying "I am here," followed by giggles in the courtroom. The trial of 26 suspects, regarding the offenses committed during the Gezi Park riots of 2013, which began as a sit-in demonstration but morphed into violent protests, continued in Istanbul yesterday. One of the lawyers for the defendants, told the court that judges should also hear Çelikkaya's defense before proceeding with the trial. The panel of judges approved the request and just as they were reading out the verdict to issue a warrant to forcibly summon Çelikkaya, the defendant stood up and said "I am here," a move which caused giggling among participants of the hearing. He said he simply mingled with the protesting crowd and left the protest site when the police ordered them to disperse their unauthorized rally, rejecting charges that he resisted the police order that carries a sentence of up to three years in prison. It is not known why the police could not locate Çelikkaya, who was summoned in previous hearings to testify, and how he made it to the courtroom without anybody questioning his identity.