MP Haberal and Journalist Balbay: Release Dismissed

The requests for the release of Prof. Mehmet Haberal and journalist Mustafa Balbay were rejected by the Istanbul 13^th High Criminal Court on Thursday (23 June).

Both Haberal and Balbay are detained defendants of the "Ergenekon" trial on the clandestine ultra-nationalist Ergenekon organization allegedly nested within the state and the military. The terrorist organization is charged with various crimes staged for the ultimate purpose of triggering a military coup.

Haberal was elected as Member of Parliament for Zonguldak (Black Sea coast) of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) in the general elections on 12 June. Balbay was elected CHP deputy in the 2^nd district of Izmir.

Balbay's lawyer announced to lodge an appeal with the superior court. The CHP Central Steering Board presided by Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu is currently evaluating the decision.

Akyol: "Against the separation of powers"

Milliyet newspaper writer Taha Akyol assessed the decision in a broadcast of the NTV news channel as follows:

"According to the law of criminal courts, [the charges pressed against Haberal and Balbay] are catalogue crimes and thus the court holds the authority not to release the defendants. Yet is has to be taken into account that these persons have been elected by the people. They would have done the legislation if they had entered parliament. Obstructing them from their legislative activities is contradictory to the separation of powers" Akyol indicated.

"Lack of finalized convictions"

CHP Zonguldak Deputy Ali İhsan Köktürk said on NTV that this was a crucial development.

"We did not expect this. The decision surprised us since arrest is a precautionary measure only and because there is no finalized decision for any conviction. The judiciary has to abide by domestic and international rules and we expected a decision accordingly", Köktürk criticized.

"The parliament has to announce an opinion of consent. Unfortunately, some members of parliament are being detained even though there is no finalized decision on a conviction. This harms the work of the parliament".

Köktürk continued, "As the CHP we will follow this incident under the political aspect. The lawyers of Haberal and Balbay will follow up the legal procedures. They can demand their release again. We hope that a new evaluation towards their release will be done. (...)"

Mehmet Haberal and Mustafa Balbay

Mehmet Haberal is a medical professor and elected MP for Zonguldak. He was taken into police custody on 13 April 2009 in the context of the Ergenekon investigation. On 17 April 2009, he was arrested by the Istanbul 14^th High Criminal Court on Duty over allegations of membership of the Ergenekon organization. Haberal fell ill in prison and thereupon received medical treatment at the intensive care unit of the Istanbul University Institute of Cardiology. After 21 months of treatment, he was transferred to the Mehmet Atif Ersoy Cardiology Hospital in Halkalı/Istanbul on 11 February. He was then taken to the Silivri Prison west of Istanbul on 11 March where he has been detained ever since.

Mustafa Balbay, journalist and elected deputy for the 2^nd Region of Istanbul, worked for the nation-wide Cumhuriyet daily before his arrest. He was taken into police custody on 1 July 2008. On 5 July, he was released pending trial. He was taken into custody again on 5 March 2009 and arrested one day later. Since then, he has been detained in the Silivri Prison. He is tried in the scope of the Ergenekon case on charges of "attempting to eliminate the government and the parliament". (NV/AS/VK)