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In his speech on March 31, President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said “They want to try and use my citizen as informant” for Sarraf, who has been kept in detention for one and a half years in the United States (US) on charges of such as “bypassing sanctions imposed on Iran” and “money laundering”.
The emphasis on the word “informant” had become a matter of debate at that time.
Government Spokesperson and Vice Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ made statements today (November 20) on the new process that started with the allegations that Sarraf has gone missing. Bozdağ this time used the word “slander”.
“Poisonous tree’s fruit is poisonous as well”
Referring to the US courts, Bozdağ said, “They force Rıza Sarraf to slander against Turkey”. Bozdağ briefly said:
“We’ve evaluated this matter earlier too. Rıza Sarraf trial is an open plot against Turkey. It is a political case lacking legal ground. During December 17-25 period, it is nothing else than staging a coup, which the FETÖ (Fethullahist Terror Organization) failed, by means of US jurisdiction. It is not lawful.
“Poisonous tree’s fruit is poisonous as well. They conduct trial based on non-existent documents like they have them. Economic relations between Turkey and Iran is in line with Turkey’s national jurisdiction as well as international law”.
Response by Bharara: Better Call Saul
On the other hand, US State Attorney Preet Bharara, who launched the investigation into Sarraf in the US, has responded to the investigation launched in Turkey on the ground that “Some documents used in Turkey were presented as evidence in the Sarraf case in the US”, on his Twitter account:
CLICK-Prosecutor's Office in İstanbul Launches Investigation into US Prosecutor Bharara
Making a reference to the series called “Better Call Saul”, which tells the story of a lawyer who is “number one” in solving complicated detective incident, posted the following tweet.
Better call Saul. https://t.co/8z3vRXR2By
— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) 18 Kasım 2017
(PT/TK)
