CHP MP Tanrıkulu on Gezi Trial: There are Very Clear Contradictions to Law
Click to read the article in Turkish
In the fifth hearing of Gezi trial yesterday (January 28), the İstanbul 30th Heavy Penal Court has ruled that businessperson and rights defender Osman Kavala, the only arrested defendant, shall remain behind bars.
Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) MP Sezgin Tanrıkulu was also there to follow the hearing. He was ordered out of the hall on the ground that he objected to the court. Addressing reporters after the hearing, he said, "There are very clear contradictions to law. From its very beginning, this trial has not been adhering to the principles of a fair and honest trial."
Tanrıkulu made the following remarks after the hearing:
'Attorneys rejected the court'
"At the hearing, the attorneys rejected the court on the ground that it was not impartial and independent. And, for almost three hours, they taught a lesson to court on procedural grounds and withdrew from the hearing.
"As per the Articles 150 and 151 of the Law of Criminal Procedure, there are some stages stipulating an obligatory defense. In the case of Kavala and other defendants, the defense definitely has to be present at court.
"As the court went ahead with the hearing despite this article of the Law of Criminal Procedure and addressed unlawful questions to Osman Kavala, I reminded the court of this defiance of the procedure as the Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Commission on Human Rights.
"I told them that they could not proceed under those circumstances. That was why the court board invited me out of the court hall.
'It is difficult to call it a court'
"There are very clear contradictions to law. From its very beginning, this trial has not been proceeding in accordance with the principles of a fair and honest trial. There is a special court board appointed to the hearing.
"While the trial was still proceeding, the presiding judge and other members of the court board abandoned the hearing. The case file has been handed over to this recently appointed board. We were faced with a hearing held by specially-appointed court board.
"This board goes ahead with the hearing against all legal precedents. The arrest of Osman Kavala continues by openly disregarding the verdict of the European Court of Human Rights. Therefore, it is difficult to call it a court. This situation of Osman Kavala is not legal.
"The previous hearing was on December 25. It was taken down in the minutes that the reply of the Ministry of Justice was delivered to the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on December 23.
CLICK - ECtHR: Release Osman Kavala Immediately
"The presiding judge said that the document reached them on December 26. The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office prevented the court from seeing the document sent by the Ministry of Justice so that it would not be ready before the hearing on December 25.
"There are very clear contradictions to law and adjournments. The indictment of this case was written by the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office of Turkey. That is why, our friends will be held hostages behind bars till the day he delivers a judgement himself."
About Gezi TrialIt has been 78 months since an investigation was launched into Gezi Park protests, 26 months since Osman Kavala was arrested and 19 months since the bill of indictment was shared with the public and the trial started. * Businessperson Osman Kavala, who was on his way back from Antep, was taken into custody at İstanbul Atatürk Airport on October 18, 2017. * On November 1, 2017, it was announced that Kavala was arrested on charges of "attempting to change the Constitutional order and to overthrow the government." In the official document referring him to court with a request of arrest, it was alleged that Kavala was the head and financier of Gezi incidents. * While Kavala and his attorneys were prevented from seeing the file of the investigation with restrictions, the content of the file was served to the media. * On November 16, 2018, a wave of detentions targeted several people, including some executives of Anadolu Kültür Inc. cofounded by Osman Kavala. * The previously acquitted members of Taksim Solidarity platform were also summoned to depose and it was reported in the news that there was indeed a more extensive list of investigation. * Imprisoned for 19 months without standing before the judge and without a bill of indictment prepared by the prosecutor's office, even Kavala and his attorneys also had to follow the course of the investigation from the press. * Almost 1.5 months passed without any judicial processes. * The bill of indictment prepared the prosecutor's office was announced on February 19, 2019 and accepted by the court on March 4. * Issued against Gezi incidents from six years ago in 16 months, the indictment demanded life sentence for 16 people. * The indictment and its annexes were mostly based on wiretapping evidence. It was announced that, mostly consisting of wiretapping evidence, the 657-page indictment also had over 8,000-page additional documents. * The first hearing of the case was held on June 24, 2019. The defendants presented their statements of defense. Yiğit Aksakoğlu, one of the two arrested defendants of the time, was released. * Announcing its ruling on the individual application of Osman Kavala on May 22, 2019, the Constitutional Court concluded that there was "no violation" despite the dissenting opinion of its own rapporteur. * Requests of release for Osman Kavala were rejected in all three hearings on June 24, July 18 and October 9. * Since the Gezi Trial started, the defendants and audience were faced with three different court boards. The presiding judge who requested the release of Osman Kavala was immediately dismissed from his duty. * The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) announced its ruling on the individual application of Osman Kavala on December 10, 2019. *Accordingly, the ECtHR has unanimously ruled that there had been a violation of Article 5/1 (right to liberty and security) of the European Convention on Human Rights, and a violation of Article 5/4 (right to a speedy decision on the lawfulness of detention) of the Convention. The Court has said, "By six votes to one, that there had been a violation of Article 18 (limitation on use of restrictions on rights) taken together with Article 5 § 1, and that the respondent State was to take every measure to put an end to the applicant's detention and to secure his immediate release." CLICK - ECtHR: His Pre-Trial Detention Not Based on Reasonable Suspicion * Now, the court is expected to abide by this verdict. |
(DB/SD)