Who Is Harun Yahya, An Islamic Preacher Who Was Sentenced To 1,075 Years In Prison For Rape And Conspiracy

Harun Yahya (Source: Commons Wikimedia)

JAKARTA - Adnan Oktar alias Adnan Hoca, author of books labeled Islam using the pen name Harun Yahya, has been sentenced to 1,075 years in prison. A Turkish court found the 64-year-old man guilty of rape and conspiracy crimes. Who is Adnan Oktar aka Adnan Hoca aka Harun Yahya?

Harun Yahya was arrested in 2018. At that time the police raided a number of places related to Harun Yahya and his group. The places are spread across five provinces in Turkey.

The raids were carried out related to allegations of financial crimes, fraud, sexual harassment, and conspiracy crimes committed by Harun Yahya and his group. Harun Yahya himself was arrested in Istanbul, at his residence, in the Cengelkoy area.

Reported by The Guardian, Tuesday, January 12, this is the second time that Harun Yahya and his organization have dealt with the law. Harun Yahya was later arrested. The first case involving Harun Yahya and his group occurred in 1999.

At that time Harun Yahya was arrested on charges of intimidation and the establishment of a criminal group. Harun Yahya was also detained, although the investigation into the case was stopped later.

The NTV television station explained that Harun Yahya's crimes include rape of minors, fraud, and attempts to spy on the government regarding military and political matters. Prosecutors also charged Harun Yahya with legal charges of leading a criminal organization. The trial against Harun Yahya has been held since September 2019.

Regarding the Harun Yahya case, the Turkish legal authorities arrested 236 other suspects. They have gone on trial, with 78 of them detained.

The influence of Harun Yahya

Harun Yahya and a number of religious leaders (Source: Commons Wikimedia)

Harun Yahya has a great personality. Since the 1980s he founded an Islamic organization in Istanbul. Apart from his flamboyant figure, Harun Yahya's wealth strengthens his influence. Even so, it is not certain where Harun Yahya's wealth came from.

As a thinker, Harun Yahya's influence was also great. In a more tendentious context, many people call Harun Yahya's thoughts dangerous. Harun Yahya is known to be active in campaigning for the anti-Semitism movement.

Harun Yahya is also known to have strongly opposed Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. He explained a lot about the process of the creation of the universe by God. In an interview with the BBC's Andrew Marr in 2010, Harun Yahya cited Darwin's theory as the main source of inspiration for modern terrorists. Harun Yahya also rejected the Holocaust.

"Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin and many other famous terrorists clearly said that their thinking was influenced by Darwin ... Without Darwin there would be no terrorism," Harun Yahya.

Harun Yahya argues that Hitler came to power thanks to the role of an instrument he called "elements of the British state." Harun Yahya detailed his conspiracy theory, that there are extraordinarily powerful groups that have ties to the government and the military. The group has the capacity to manipulate and control government policy.

Harun Yahya's Book Atlas of Creation I (Source: Commons Wikimedia)

As quoted by Tempo, since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center (WTC) building in the United States (US), Harun Yahya began to show himself as an interfaith speaker. Harun Yahya portrays himself as a supporter of interfaith dialogue. He also made his name as the main enemy of international terrorism.

It has been several years since the turning point of his work Harun Yahya established a television channel. Harun Yahya used this channel to spread his understanding and influence, including his various interpretations of Islamic teachings. A typical Harun Yahya event. He often appears surrounded by a number of computer screens with young women half naked.

Apart from television channels, Harun Yahya is also known as a writer. Harun Yahya is the name of the questioner. While his real name is Adnan Oktar alias Adnan Hoca. In several of his books, Harun Yahya claims to have dismantled the cooperation formed by the British shadow government in Turkey with regional rulers. According to Harun Yahya, the investigation he and his group conducted was the reason the Turkish legal authorities criminalized him.

Women all around

Harun Yahya is not only surrounded by women in his television program. In the real world Harun Yahya is also synonymous with women. According to some of his former followers, Harun Yahya brainwashed the women. Harun Yahya also intimidated, threatened, and made these women sex slaves.

The search for women around Harun Yahya was organized. According to reports, the Harun Yahya group sent people specifically tasked with looking for beautiful women and handsome men from established families to become followers. Allegedly, most of the recruits were carried out in private Turkish universities.

Harun Yahya and the women around him (Source: YouTube / Harun Yahya English)

According to the statements of many families of victims of manipulation by Harun Yahya, after recruitment, the family usually loses contact with the victim of new recruits, Harun Yahya. Don't expect time to meet.

In the evidentiary file for the 1999 case, the police stated that women recruited by Harun Yahya would be persuaded to participate in sexual activities that were documented through films or photographs. These digital materials are Harun Yahya's tools to threaten his victims. This was revealed by a Turkish model, Ebru Simsek, who admitted to being blackmailed by the threat of a sex video by Harun Yahya's group.

There is a sad condition that was told by women victims of Harun Yahya. According to them, a woman is often forced to marry Harun Yahya just to be free from being forced to sleep with many men in the group.

Every woman who marries Harun Yahya, that woman will become a "sister". Within the group there is an unwritten rule, not one male follower of Harun Yahya - usually called a lion - is allowed to have sex with a sister.