Another similarity has surfaced in the cases of Lawyer Marvin Schroth’s clients MİT operative Mehmet Fatih Sayan’s and leader of the ISIS cell planning attacks in Düsseldorf  Saleh A. Like Sayan, Saleh A. also claimed he worked for the MİT first, but later changed his deposition.

The case of Mehmet Fatih Sayan, the MİT operative sent to Germany to assassinate Kurdish politicians, started in Hamburg on September 8 and is expected to continue until mid-October. The case states that Sayan has worked with Turkish intelligence since 2013 and has received 30.000 Euros for his work.

A significant point is that Sayan changed both his deposition to the judge and to the German police. Agent Sayan had applied for asylum on December 12, 2016 in the Federal Immigration and Refugees Directorate in Hamburg after he was exposed.

In his first deposition there, Sayan recounted how he was part of a MİT assassination group against Kurdish politicians, but went on to say completely different things to the Federal Criminal Police (BKA) in February 2017.

Sayan continued with the same approach during the hearing as well and denied almost all charges by claiming they are coincidences in his personal life. He cleared the MİT and attempted to put the blame on pro-Gülen police officers. In the hearing, Sayan said, “I didn’t object to the news articles about me so my asylum claim would be accepted,” which was considered to be a fairly “smart” move.

IS HIS LAWYER COACHING SAYAN?

The assumption is that Sayan’s coach is his lawyer Marvin Schroth. Schroth has attracted attention for representing ISIS members in recent cases in Germany, and interestingly, in cases Schroth takes, the defendants have been changing their depositions regarding their MİT connections.

One of Marvin Schroth’s clients is the ISIS member Saleh A. whose case continues in Düsseldorf. Saleh A. was the leader of the cell that was caught while preparing terrorist attacks in the name of ISIS in Düsseldorf in June 2016 and had turned himself in to the police in France after two of his friends were captured. Another similarity in the two cases is that Sayan also turned himself in.

ISIS had sent Saleh A. to Turkey to organize the gang members’ crossings into Syria. In his first deposition to the investigation unit before the trial, Saleh A. had said he worked for the MİT, and the following information he gave was significant:

“I crossed into Turkey in May 2014 with Hamza C. I covertly worked with Turkish intelligence in Turkey. With the information I provided, the Turkish police carried out operations and detained some 50 ISIS members. I also prevented several attacks including one targeting the US consulate.”

DEPOSITION ON MİT CHANGED IN ISIS CASE

Saleh A. later crossed into Greece on a refugee boat and then travelled into Germany where he applied for asylum. He started working on the cell that would carry out a terrorist attack in Düsseldorf after he arrived in Germany and sent a message saying “Everything is ready for the action, it’s up to Allah at this point,” to the ISIS headquarters in Syria over Facebook.

The case of Saleh A. and his cell continues in Düsseldorf State High Court. The sudden change in depositions has drawn attention to the lawyer. Interestingly, like agent Mehmet Fatih Sayan, Saleh A. also changed his deposition in court and denied his connection to the MİT, only saying he “went to Syria for intelligence organizations”.

Saleh A.’s lawyer Marvin Schroth denied his ties with ISIS and claimed he is from Algeria, not Syria. Now Saleh A.’s case is stuck due to frequently changing depositions. As Lawyer Schroth uses the same tactics in Sayan’s case as well, a similar situation is expected in Hamburg.

LAWYER FOR BEHEADERS

Marvin Schroth had taken the case of former Iraqi army official Rami K. who faced a judge in Berlin in March and was on trial for war crimes. Rami K. had arrived in Germany and applied for asylum, and later on photos of him posing with people he beheaded during battle in Tiqrit, Iraq in 2015 had surfaced.