‘If you are sincere, Kavala must be free and Berberoğlu must return to Parliament’

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Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Eskişehir MP Utku Çakırözer visited Ayhan Bilgen, the dismissed Co-Mayor of Turkey's eastern Kars province, in Sincan Prison in the capital city of Ankara.

Addressing the reporters after his meeting with Bilgen, the MP has commented on the remarks of President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Justice Minister Abdülhamit Gül, who have recently talked about "judicial independence" and "rule of law."

Referring to these remarks, Çakırözer has called on the authorities to release Ayhan Bilgen and all criminals of thought from prison.

"Ayhan Bilgen has been arrested again as part of a case file where he was put on trial six years ago, unlawfully imprisoned for seven months and the Constitutional Court gave a ruling of right violation," Çakırözer has said.

Reminding the reporters that Bilgen has been arrested for two months now, Çakırözer has briefly added: "In his statements last week, President Erdoğan said that they would take new steps to ensure a stronger principle of the rule of law and a foreseeable, easily accessible, quickly and efficiently operation judicial system. Following his remarks, Minister Gül also made statements about the bindingness of the Constitutional Court decision. If they really think so, why is Ayhan Bilgen still held in Sincan Prison?"

'Berberoğlu must return to Parliament'

Çakırözer has also referred to the situation of political prisoners in Turkey:

"Despite two rulings of release, one ruling of acquittal and a European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgement, Osman Kavala has been in prison for 3 years. There is an ECtHR judgement about [former HDP Co-Chair] Selahattin Demirtaş. You might like his views or not, but writer Ahmet Altan has been arrested for 1,506 days over a TV program and his article.

"If we are talking about an independent judiciary and a rule of law, then these people must be free immediately."

Speaking about Enis Berberoğlu, who had been an MP from the CHP, but was stripped of his MP status, Çakırözer has also referred to the Constitutional Court decision of right violation which has been defied by two local courts: "Our MP who was sent to the Parliament with the votes of millions of İstanbulites must also immediately return to his duty at the Parliament following these statements."

Bilgen: Yet another unlawfulness

Ayhan Bilgen has also sent a message from prison via CHP MP Çakırözer. His message briefly reads as follows:

"Despite a Constitutional Court decision and without any new evidence against me, I have been arrested again as part of the same file where I was unjustly arrested for months. Yet another unlawfulness on top of another..."

Bilgen has indicated that "he has made an application the Constitutional Court so that this unlawfulness can be eliminated." (HA/SD)