Erdoğan appoints judge to Constitutional Court after only 20-day term at Court of Cassation
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President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has picked İrfan Fidan for the Constitutional Court membership from the three candidates nominated by the Court of Cassation.
Fidan was the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor when he was appointed on November 27 to the Court of Cassation, the highest court of appeals in Turkey, by the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK).
As İstanbul's chief public prosecutor, Fidan prosecuted several important political cases, including the case of the 2013 Gezi Park protests, the case of the "December 17-25 corruption plot against the government," and the "National Intelligence Organization (MİT) trucks case."
He announced his candidacy for the Constitutional Court on the night of December 1.
On November 24, the Presidency of the Court of Cassation announced that the vote for the Constitutional Court was postponed from December 2 to December 17 due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Several politicians and reports claimed that this change was in order for İrfan Fidan to be elected as a member of the Constitutional Court.
Reports including such statements by MP Mustafa Yeneroğlu were blocked by a court.
In the election at the Court of Cassation on Saturday (January 23), Fidan got the highest number of votes from the court members with 110 despite competing against much more experienced rivals. He was followed by Nevzat Özsoy (65 votes), Mustafa Erol (52 votes), Nazmiye Beyazıtoğlu Kuşçuoğlu (45 votes) and Mahmut Coşkun (35 votes).
Erdoğan appointed Fidan as a Constitutional Court member on the same day. He has become a judge of the top court without handling any cases at the Court of Cassation, where it served for only 20 days.
Fidan will serve at the Constitutional Court for 12 years. He is the fifth member appointed by Erdoğan to the 15-member court.
Allegations of male violenceIndependent MP and journalist Ahmet Şık said on Twitter on December 11 that "a senior judicial officer" was beating his spouse. Without disclosing any names, Şık described the judge as "a useful triggerman of the government and a hangman of the law" who was expecting to be appointed to higher posts. "When a fight erupted with her spouse, who learned a secret about his personal life, his spouse, whom he beat until breaking her tooth, received a medical report for battery and filed a complaint against him," Şık wrote. "Although the complaint was not wanted to be processed due to the duty of his spouse, the complaint was put in process because of the concern that the incident would grow. "The complaint, which was made through a deputy chief public prosecutor, was sent to the relevant chamber of the Council that investigates members of the judiciary. "The complaint in question was not only about the beating but also included the allegations of corruption/bribery, which provided the increase in the wealth of the members of the judiciary. "Because of his usefulness in the position he held recently and his relations coming from being a triggerman of the ruling power, the incident is now being kept secret." On the same night, the HSK announced that it had not received a petition of complaint about such an incident. In response, MP Şık tweeted, "There is no country, there are no names but in such a hurry, an obligation arises for the HSK to release a statement on Friday night. They don't say 'There is no petition of complaint.' They say, 'We don't have a petition of complaint'." Later, İrfan Fidan and his spouse Sibel Özalp-Fidan filed a criminal complaint against Şık. As per a request by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, access to Şık's tweets and reports containing his allegations was blocked. The prosecutor's office also opened an investigation against Şık for "insulting a public official" and "slander." |
About İrfan FidanA Constitutional Court member and the former İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor. He prosecuted several controversial political cases, including the case of the 2013 Gezi Park protests, the case of the "December 17-25 corruption plot against the government," and the "National Intelligence Organization (MİT) trucks case," the match-fixing case in the Super League, cases of some of the Academics for Peace and the "Selam-Tevhid organization" case. He started his career in the judiciary in 1999 as the Public Prosecutor of Akkışla in the central Anatolian province of Kayseri. He then served at the same position in aşkale (Erzurum), Çaycuma (Zonguldak), Dörtyol (Hatay), and Şişli (İstanbul). He was appointed as the deputy chief public prosecutor of İstanbul in 2015 and became the chief public prosecutor one year later. He was born Fatsa, Ordu in northeastern Turkey. |
(HA/VK)
