On Monday (November 18), a trial began in İstanbul, Turkey for 47 defendants accused of involvement in a healthcare scandal that reportedly led to the deaths of 10 newborn babies. News of the ‘Newborn Gang’ (Yenidoğan Çetesi) scandal broke in mid-October, and alleged that certain health workers involved in the group purposely directed newborn babies to specific private hospitals for unnecessary medication or treatment, with the goal of making money through excessive medical bills.
Of the 47 individuals being charged in the case, 22 have been held in detention.
Outside the courthouse in İstanbul’s Bakırköy district, protestors gathered with placards to demonstrate against the alleged ‘gang’ members. The group included family members who had lost babies in the private hospitals associated with the group.
Zeliha Aksaz Şahbaz, a member of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), said in a statement in front of the courthouse: “The Minister of Health should resign and be brought to trial.”
Some of the demonstrators reportedly tried to enter the courthouse, but were denied access by security forces.
As a result of the scandal, 10 private hospitals in the Istanbul area have had their licenses cancelled.
“Newborn Gang” trial begins
The indictment issued accuses the ‘Newborn Gang’ of unnecessarily sending newly born infants to certain private hospitals affiliated with the group. At these hospitals, the newborns are alleged to have been prescribed unnecessary and inappropriate treatments which in some cases led to the deaths of the babies.
The indictment also calls for prison sentences totalling several hundred years for the alleged main ringleaders of the group. Doctors Fırat Sarı and İlker Gönen are both named as ‘gang-leaders’.
A lawyer from one of the affected families made a statement at the court proceedings saying “These families are all poor and needy. It is always the poorest members in our country who become victims.” Newborn Gang
Towards the end of Monday’s proceedings, Fırat Sarı was given an opportunity to make a statement by the presiding judge to which he replied “I have nothing to say.“
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By Leo Kendrick
