Selçuk Kozağaçlı Files Lawsuit for Non-Pecuniary Damages Against Judge

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Chair of Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD) Selçuk Kozağaçlı has submitted a petition to file a lawsuit for damages of 5 thousand Turkish Lira (approx. 885 US Dollars) against Akın Gürlek, the Presiding Judge of the İstanbul 37th Heavy Penal Court that sentenced him to prison.

In the petition submitted to the court, it has been alleged that "Gürlek displayed behavior and attitude carrying the characteristics of an act of injustice which violated the personal rights of Kozağaçlı."

The request for legal aid raised by Kozağaçlı for the lawsuit has been rejected on the ground that "he is a lawyer." Arrested lawyer Kozağaçlı is obliged to pay the application fee to the İstanbul 11th Penal Court of First Instance for the acceptance of his case.

He has been sentenced to 11 years, 3 months

Lawyer Selçuk Kozağaçlı, who is also the Chair of the ÇHD, was arrested on November 13, 2017 and released in his first hearing along with other arrested lawyers on September 14, 2018.

However, on the same day, upon the objection of the Prosecutor's Office, an arrest warrant was issued against him and he was arrested one day later.

Kozağaçlı is still held in Silivri No. 9 Type F Prison in İstanbul.

In the final hearing of the case held on March 20, the court sentenced him to 11 years and 3 months in prison and ruled for the continuation of his arrest.

Announcing its verdict for 17 other lawyers as well, the court has sentenced 18 lawyers from the ÇHD and People's Law Bureau (HHB) to 159 years, 1 month and 30 days in prison in total.

CLICK - 18 Lawyers Sentenced to Prison for 159 Years, 1 Month, 30 Days in Total

In the hearing of the case held on March 19, 2019, the defendants who raised a request for recusation were ordered out of the court hall and their request was rejected. Presiding Judge Akın Gürlek also ruled that a criminal complaint shall be filed against Kozağaçlı.

As for the petition submitted to the court for the lawsuit for non-pecuniary damages, it refers to what happened in the hearings of the case held on December 3-5, 2018 in Silivri Prison Campus.

'He arbitrarily ordered lawyers out of court hall'

Submitted by lawyer Ali Şafak to the court on behalf of Selçuk Kozağaçlı, the petition has referred to the following reasons for the lawsuit:

"Throughout the hearings on December 3-5, 2018, [Akın Gürlek] presided over the hearing in a way that did not conform to the Law on Criminal Courts and prevented the defendants and their lawyers from using their right of defense by rejecting their all objections and ordering the lawyers asking for permission to speak from the court hall in an arbitrary manner.

"With this attitude, he openly demonstrated that he lost his impartiality towards Kozağaçlı and other defendants of the case."

Emphasizing that not only the right to a fair trial, but also the personal rights of defendants were violated, the petition has requested that non-pecuniary damages of 5 thousand Turkish Lira be paid to Selçuk Kozağaçlı. (AS/SD)