POINT OF PROSECUTOR APPOINTMENTS UNCLEAR
Today’s Zaman
Jan 29 2009
Turkey
The Supreme Board of Prosecutors and Judges’ (HSYK) assignment of new
prosecutors on Tuesday to the Ä°stanbul Prosecutor’s Office, assigned
to handle the Ergenekon trial, an investigation into a clandestine
terrorist organization charged with various crimes staged for the
ultimate purpose of triggering a military coup, has caused controversy
and confusion in political and judicial circles.
The HSYK announced late on Tuesday that three new prosecutors would be
assigned to the Ergenekon case, an investigation in which 86 suspects
are currently standing trial for various charges. Other suspected
members, including military officers on active duty, have also been
detained pending indictment.
Analysts have commented that there might be a conspiratorial motive
behind the appointments since they come only two weeks after Aydınlık
— a publication issued by the Worker’ Party (Ä°P), whose chairman
and other administrators are accused of membership in Ergenekon —
printed an article titled, "Appeal to the HSYK: Assign real prosecutors
to the case." In its Jan. 18, 2009 issue, Aydınlık published an
article complaining about Zekeriya Oz, the chief prosecutor of the
case. The article commented that "judicial circles would like to see
the HSYK assign experienced jurists to the investigation."
Justice Ministry officials say six authorized prosecutors are
working on the Ergenekon trial, a situation that has caused a lack
of prosecutors for other cases handled by the Ä°stanbul Prosecutor’s
Office. İstanbul Deputy Chief Prosecutor Turan Colakkadı last week
announced that some appointments would be made but noted that the
Prosecutor’s Office would be deciding what case each prosecutor was
assigned to. According to this interpretation, the new prosecutors
might not be working on the Ergenekon case, but, as of yesterday,
it was not clear what the exact role of the new prosecutors would be.
"Konya Just Jurists’ Association [KaDenge] is concerned that the
investigation might end in a decision that would not satisfy public
consciousness through certain statements and interventions," said
KaDenge President Erhan Å~^ahin, expressing that he is concerned the
move might be followed by yet another move to replace the prosecutors.
"We don’t even want to think about what these appointments have
anything to do with the Ergenekon trial. Assigning prosecutors to a
case next to prosecutors who are already conducting the case is only
about watering down the case.
If this appointment is indeed about Ergenekon, it would really go
beyond its purpose," said Ä°dris Å~^ahin, head of the Cankırı
Bar Association.
"The Turkish nation trusts the prosecutor on the case and so should the
HSYK," said Yusuf BaÅ~_er, head of the Yozgat Bar association. "If the
prosecutors assigned will be working under the orders of Zekeriya Oz,
there will not be too many problems. In the opposite case, the trial
would be watered down."
Tokat Bar Association President Faruk Bostancı said: "We don’t know
if these prosecutors will be assigned to the Ergenekon trial. If this
was done to close an inadequacy in the prosecutor’s office, there’s
nothing wrong with this appointment. But if they are involved in the
Ergenekon investigation, that would be absolutely wrong."
Attempts to influence judiciary
Many jurists say recent statements by Judges and Prosecutors Union
(YARSAV) head Omer Faruk Eminagaoglu and former Supreme Court
of Appeals Chief Prosecutor Sabih Kanadoglu, favoring different
prosecutors, might have had an influence on the HSYK. These statements
and the Aydınlık article are seen as an attempt to influence the
judiciary. However, not everybody agrees. Former Chief Prosecutor
ReÅ~_at Petek commented on the decision, saying: "Judges don’t make
decisions based on articles published in a journal. They behave
according to the law." He also said he didn’t think the HSYK would
take demands for assigning new prosecutors to the case seriously
as long as there was solid evidence against the current prosecutor
being involved in any wrongdoing. He said the law also called for
keeping the prosecutor in charge of a gang-related case on the same
investigation for at least four years.
Yılmaz GeniÅ~_, chairman of the Bogazici Lawyers’ Association,
agreed, saying: "It is obvious that such publications are trying to
put pressure on the judiciary. Such publications have the purpose
of spreading disinformation in the society. The HSYK is independent;
we don’t think it will yield to such pressure."
Jurists’ Association head Kamil Ugur Yaralı also said he believed
the assignments were being misinterpreted. "If Prosecutor Zekeriya
Oz is taken off the team, this should be seen as intervention. There
is a media group trying to influence public opinion with false news
stories. But when one looks at the entirety of the events, everything
is in accordance with the law."
HSYK assignments to the prosecutor’s office
The HSYK noted on its Web site yesterday that prosecutors Rasim
IÅ~_ıkaltın, Kasım Ä°limoglu and Mustafa CavuÅ~_oglu were assigned
to the Ä°stanbul Prosecutor’s Office and given the status of specially
authorized prosecutors. IÅ~_ıkaltın is known for an investigation
into Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan while Erdogan served as
mayor of Ä°stanbul.
The former Supreme Court of Appeals chief prosecutor had ruled in
the investigation into Erdogan over suspicion of rigging some public
city tenders during his term as the mayor of Ä°stanbul, outside
his jurisdictional powers, and referred the case to Prosecutor
IÅ~_ıkaltın, who indicted Erdogan.
IÅ~_ıkaltın had also filed a complaint against Yucel Sayman, a lawyer
representing the plaintiffs in the murder trial of Turkish-Armenian
Journalist Hrant Dink, who was gunned down in 2007 in an assassination
currently blamed on Ergenekon. IÅ~_ıkaltın’s complaint accused
Sayman of having insulted Kemal Kerincsiz, an ultra-nationalist lawyer
currently in jail as an Ergenekon suspect. IÅ~_ıkaltın demanded
one to two years in jail for Sayman, who was acquitted at the end of
the trial.
CHP’s Kart files complaint against Ergenekon prosecutors
Republican People’s Party (CHP) Konya Deputy Atilla Kart on Tuesday
filed a criminal complaint with the HSYK against the prosecutors on
the Ergenekon case, accusing them of conducting the investigation
under the influence of their own personal relations and also of
having violated the confidentiality of the probe. Justice Minister
Mehmet Ali Å~^ahin dismissed the allegations that the new prosecutors
were assigned to water down the trial. "We have to respect all our
prosecutors. It is disrespectful to draw distinctions between our
prosecutors," he said yesterday.
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