Justice is entrusted to the tea boy
The prosecutor who shot a woman judge in the courthouse made plans to escape. The prosecutor, who complained about the judge he shot, emphasised the points where he could receive a reduced sentence and gave a statement for provocation reduction: I was the one who was insulted, blackmailed and beaten.
On 13 January 2026, at the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice, a prosecutor shot and wounded a female judge with a pistol. The convicted tea server, who intervened and jumped on him, prevented the prosecutor from firing a second shot. In other words, the convicted tea server, who was working at the courthouse under supervised release, saved the life of the female judge the prosecutor had fired at.
‘STEP ASIDE, I AM A PROSECUTOR’
The statement taken from Yakup Karadağ, the tea boy, as a witness should be framed and hung in courthouses because it reveals the state of the judiciary:
"I have been working as a convict in the tea room at the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice for eight months. When I entered the room, the suspect took a couple of steps back, and at that moment, the judge said, “He's attacking me, can you help me? Call security.” I thought she was joking. When I saw her grim face and the suspect lunging towards her, I realised it was serious, so I put the tea tray on the table and stepped between them. The suspect spoke harshly to me, saying, ‘Step aside. I'm a prosecutor.’ He seemed to have lost his mind. There was a distance of about 1.5 metres between them. At that moment, he pointed his gun at the judge and fired. I immediately lunged forward and grabbed his arm, which was holding the gun. At that moment, he fired the gun again. I tried with all my strength to push him towards the wall. Even then, he was still trying to reload his gun and fire again. I squeezed his gun-wielding hand with all my strength. With my other hand, I took the gun and placed it on the table. At that moment, the police entered and pinned the suspect face down on the floor. Mrs. Hakime said she had been shot and showed them where."
HE COMMITTED THEFT, HE THREATENED
In January 2025, Judge A.K. and Prosecutor Muhammed Çağatay Kılıçarslan separated. Prosecutor Muhammed Çağatay Kılıçarslan could not accept this. He constantly called her, disturbing her, so she blocked him from all communication channels. According to Judge A.K.'s statement, what happened was horrific:
• In March 2025, while Judge A.K. was not at home, Kılıçarslan opened the door with a knife and stole 5 quarter gold coins, 27 full Republic gold coins, and 50 grams of 24-carat gold bullion. Among the items stolen from the house were the spare key to her car, all the family photos, and an external memory stick containing her son's baby photos and videos.
• 2 January 2026: (Kılıçarslan sent a photo of a gun by email) "Look, I just bought this machine. I don't have a licence for it. It's not at my house either. I buried it in a nice place. At worst, I'll f*** someone's mother with this. Go. I'm giving Ö. (Hakime A.K.'s son) until summer. If you make the slightest move, it will be a pity for you and Ö."
SENTENCE REDUCTION PLAN
Prosecutor Kılıçarslan had previously worked in the domestic violence unit. He knew exactly how to testify to get a sentence reduction. In his statement, he claimed that Judge A.K. wanted to marry him and took revenge when he refused. "He threatened to tell my family and work colleagues about matters such as abortion and extramarital affairs," he said.
"He made financial demands of me. I gave him gold, the amount of which I don't remember, and transferred 130,000 TL," he said. In fact, evidence had been entered into the file that these were repayments of money and gold stolen from the house.
A PLAN OF SEVERE COERCION
In his statement about the day of the incident, he emphasised the points that could lead to a reduction in his sentence: ‘I told A. that it would be better if we didn't see each other. She refused to accept this and said, “Are you a man, you idiot? Would I have a child with a fool like you? The baby wasn't even yours anyway,” which shocked me.’
HE BECAME A COMPLAINANT
But Kılıçarslan continued: ‘I am sorry and regretful for the incident. However, I am complaining because she blackmailed me, threatened me to gain financial benefit from me, and assaulted me.’
Kılıçarslan went so far as to criticise the referral to the court with a request for arrest: ‘If I weren't a judge and prosecutor, this referral would definitely not have happened. I am facing such a referral simply because I am your colleague... I am the one who was insulted and blackmailed.’
MYSTERIOUS THREAT IN THE STATEMENT
Prosecutor Kılıçarslan made a strange statement in part of his testimony. ‘I would also like to mention that A. and I used shared Instagram and Gmail accounts. We carried out various transactions with these accounts. However, we did this together. If he explains, I will explain too,’ he said. It sounds like a threatening statement intended to lead to a plea bargain. Judge A.K. was asked about this statement. He replied: ‘I did not carry out any transactions because we did not use joint accounts. I do not know what he meant by this statement.’
The indictment was prepared based on the incident first reported by Ceylan Sever. Prosecutor Kılıçarslan requested a 42-year prison sentence for the crimes of “attempted intentional murder of a woman, violation of workplace inviolability by means of coercion and threats, threats with a weapon and in a chain manner, persistent stalking, and unlawful acquisition of personal data”.
Note: This article is translated in abbreviated form from the original article titled Adalet çaycıya emanet, published in BirGün newspaper on February 20, 2026.
