Turkey’s Descent Into Arbitrariness: Rule of Law
The End of Rule of Law
A growing consensus among jurists and analysts who have observed the rapid democratic backsliding in Turkey, a member of the Council of Europe (CoE), is that the rule of law has been effectively suspended under the renewed emergency rule and that the courts are practically controlled by the authoritarian regime of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who does not hesitate to abuse the criminal justice system to persecute his critics and opponents. Over 200 journalists have been jailed in Turkey, most in pre-trial detention, on trumpedup charges of terror, coup plotting or espionage, while some 50,000 people including judges, prosecutors, teachers, doctors and union workers have been arrested in the last eight months alone. The government has purged approximately 140,000 public employees without any effective administrative investigation or judicial probe.
Please read more below: Turkey’s Descent Into Arbitrariness
EXAMPLES OF OPPRESSION ON JUDGES AND PROSECUTORS DETAINED AFTER COUP ATTEMPT
Even though judges and prosecutors at Penal Courts of Peace have been specially selected from pro-government YBP, a dedicated communication have been established and these courts have been monitored by HSYK, attorney generals and commission chairs in order to prevent any error. There was no evidence for arrests but a list of arrests and questions to be used for interrogation. The process has been followed by commission chairs and attorney generals and HSYK was always in oversight. When there was problem in arrests, oppression was applied by directing the crowds to the courthouse, as it was the case in Duzce province.Particularly, the judges and prosecutors assigned for arrests after the coup attempt are in fear of being included in the subsequent lists and being discharged from profession if they don’t accomplish these arrest processes. A few of the hundreds of examples observed countrywide after the coup attempt is given below.
Judges are in danger for their decision
On October 2, 2016, a court in the southern province of Hatay refused to hear a caseagainst a man who prosecutors said was a member of Hizmet movement24 because hesimply had the ByLock application25 installed on his phone. The human rights lawyernoted that the judge made a very reasonable decision on this case, asking for moreevidence than the mere presence of an application on a mobile phone. Shortly after theruling the judge was publicly called a Hizmet member, and may face a legalinvestigation himself.
https://youtu.be/LQ8PZzTvTa4
Arrested HSYK member goes on hunger strike in protest of prison conditions
Head of the 2nd Chamber of the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) Nesibe Özer, who was arrested as part of an investigation into the faith-based Gülen movement, has gone on a hunger strike to protest being confined to a cell, the Hürriyet daily reported on Wednesday.
Turkey Slips to 99th Place in 113-Country in the Rule of Law Index
Turkey has dropped by eight places from last year in the WJP Rule of Law Index 2016, released today by the World Justice Project (WJP).
Ranked in 80th place out of 102 countries in 2015, Turkey slipped to number 99 out of 113 nations in the 2016 report. It came in 13th among the 13 countries in its region, Eastern Europe & Central Asia, in total score, comprising, in descending order of overall scores, Georgia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Macedonia FYR, Belarus, Albania, Kazakhstan, Serbia, Moldova, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Turkey.
Veteran legal expert says ops targeting Gülen movement remind him of Hitler’s Germany
Metin Günday, Professor of Administrative Law at Ankara University, has said that detentions and arrests carried out as part of operations targeting Gülen movement – a grassroots initiative inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen – reminds him of the practices in Hitler’s Germany.
HSYK reassigns judge asking top court to annul article on ‘insulting president’ By TM – June 6, 201
The Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), the body that decides the appointments and promotions of those in judicial positions, has reassigned Judge Murat Aydın, who applied to Constitutional Court to annul a Turkish Penal Code (TCK) article on “insulting the president.”
Politicians react against move to frame Gülen movement as “terrorist organization”
A number of politicians have spoken out against politically motivated move to frame Gülen movement — a grassroots initiative comprising people inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen – as a “terrorist organization.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced on Friday that he is expecting a Cabinet decision that will officially declare sympathizers of the Gülen movement as a “terrorist organization” in order to put them on trial, in what is widely considered a move by the president of acting like the judiciary.
