Judge wishes to be recused, prosecutor sleeps during hearing

"Justice is the basis of the country"

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Presiding judge: How can there be an arrest reason like that, this is a comment reflecting bias!

Attorney: You gave that verdict.

Judge: Such things may have happened in the period of the pandemic.

Recording the court board's remarks similar to these, attorney Barzan Demirhan filed a complaint against the board.

It was also stated in the court minutes that the prosecutor was sleeping while all these were happening.

Copy-paste from the previous verdict

This process had started with the approval of the previous court's request for the recusal of the judge.

Attorney Demirhan told bianet that they rejected the court board of the İstanbul 22nd Heavy Penal Court in the trial of his client Selda Karataş, stating that the court board made comments reflecting bias in its interim decision. They were surprised that it was accepted because such requests would be normally rejected.

"From this stage on, we got to know the process after a decision of recusal, a mechanism that is never run. With the interruption due to the pandemic, we were not able to see the new board, but we saw their names in the examination of arrest minutes," said Demirhan.

"They copied and pasted reasons for the continuation of arrest, which constituted comments reflecting bias. They neither knew about the decisions of continuation of arrest nor the time the hearing was postponed in the minutes that they signed," he added.

"The court doesn't know much about the case"

Karataş's case was not on the list on the door of the new court where the case was sent.

According to the minutes, the court didn't know much about this case: "We were in front of the courtroom at 10.00 a.m. on July 3, when the hearing was to be held according to the notifications made to the defendants, defense counsels, complainants, complainants' attorneys and witnesses. However, there was no information about our case on the hearings list that was hung on the door of the courtroom."

"We asked the bailiff, he said he didn't know about this case. We went to the court clerk's office, the clerk said that they would receive our case towards the evening when their cases were done.

"As a result of our meeting with the presiding judge, Ersin Öztürk, the hearing, which should have started at 10.00, started at 13.05.

"The judge also said in the hearing that 'he didn't have the full knowledge of the case,' he could only read the indictment."

"I wish they recused us as well, so we would have gotten rid of it"

While waiting for the video conference connection of the arrested defendant Selda Karataş, the presiding judge complained that he was appointed after the recusal: "I can't make sense of how an authority with the same degree as me appoints me."

According to the court minutes, he also said, "Oh! I wish they recused us as well, so we would have gotten rid of it."

The prosecutor slept, the judge said, "Don't lose eye contact with me"

While all these were happening, the prosecutor was sleeping.

When attorney Demirhan pointed at the prosecutor and told the judge that such a hearing cannot take place, he replied, "Look, I am very carefully following the hearing. Please don't lose eye contact with me," according to the minutes. The prosecutor continued to sleep.

"Such things may have happened during the pandemic"

While attorney Demirhan was criticizing the court's reasons for the continuation of the defendant's arrest, the judge interrupted him and said, "How can there be an arrest reason like that, this is a comment reflecting bias!"

Demirhan told him that the reasons for the continuation of the arrest signed by the judge were the same.

The judge defended himself, saying, "Such things may have happened in the period of the pandemic."

The court doesn't know about the appeal

Announcing the interim decision, the presiding judge ruled for the continuation of the arrest. He told the defendant's attorney that they could appeal the decision at İstanbul 23th Heavy Penal Court.

They had already done that but the court hadn't sent the petition of objection to the upper court, Demirhan replied.

The judge said he didn't know about it.

The attorney then said that the judge didn't know about his own verdicts, the time of the hearing and the appeal to the decision and these would mean that the judge's e-signature was used by other people and therefore they committed the offenses of forgery of official documents and misconduct.

What happened in the hearing "revealed the pathetic situation of the judicial agents," Demirhan said. Selda Karataş, a teacher, is on trial for violating the Constitution, membership of an illegal organization, damage to property and qualified looting. (AS/VK)