State Presents Witnesses and Documents in Criminal Trial of Thino Mayor Saud Ali

In the case where it is alleged that Thino City was designated as a city in violation of the law, the state has presented witnesses, including employees from the President’s Office and the Local Government Authority (LGA), to prove the charges brought against Thino Mayor Saud Ali. The Office of the Prosecutor General (PG) decided to bring two charges against Saud and submitted them to the Criminal Court on August 31 last month. The charges brought against Saud are for providing a knowingly false document and providing false information to an official institution. During the hearing of this case held in the Criminal Court today, the defense lawyers representing Saud repeatedly stated that they had taken up the case only today and therefore needed time to study the case, requesting that time be given for this purpose. However, the judge stated that time had already been given to Saud previously. Even though Saud was repeatedly given the opportunity to respond during today's hearing, the defense lawyers stated that Saud could receive legal advice regarding what to say about the case only after studying the case. However, the judge proceeded with the trial, stating that the prosecution would present its case and that he believed Saud would be able to respond to these charges by today. Accordingly, when given the opportunity to present the charges, the state lawyers separately presented two charges. When Saud denied these charges, the judge granted the state the opportunity to present evidence. While presenting evidence, the state lawyer stated that the state presents the same evidence for both charges. In this regard, to clarify how events unfolded in the case, the state presented former members and employees of the Thino Council, as well as participants in meetings held between the Thino Council and relevant authorities regarding Thino obtaining city status, as witness testimonies. The state lawyer stated that this included employees from the President’s Office and employees from the LGA. Additionally, to prove that people were incorrectly included in the resident list of Thino, besides the resident list, the entity that investigated the case was also presented as evidence to reveal what happened during the investigation of this case. As documentary evidence, decisions made within the council regarding obtaining city status for Thino, submissions made by the council to other authorities for obtaining city status, and transactions conducted have been presented. Along with this, incorrect lists shared by the Thino Council with the LGA, and the minutes of a meeting held at the Office of the President regarding granting Thino city council status on May 20, 2023, have also been presented. Furthermore, to prove that incorrect lists were shared with the LGA, screenshots from the James Portals, statements previously given by Saud Ali to two media outlets, and proof that information was provided to the Elections Commission stating that Thino would have a population of 10,150 people, along with the request from the commission to check if the population reached 10,000, the resident population list sent to the commission starting from February 1, 2023, until the end of July 2023, and the list containing a population of 10,150 people sent by the council to the LGA on August 14, 2023, along with an analysis prepared by the National Registration Department related to these, have all been presented. During the opportunity given to the defense to present evidence in connection with the evidence presented by the state, the defense lawyers for Saud stated that studying the case is the time required by law for the defense. Therefore, the defense lawyers repeatedly requested time to study the case and present evidence for the defense.