Jurists reaction to the Cumhuriyet indictment: FETO methods (05.04.2017)

According to jurists, serving the indictment up to the media is an instance of ‘unlawfulness’. Chair of the Union of Judges, Mustafa Karadağ, said that providing the pro-regime media with the indictment before the court was a method used by the Gulenists.
VIOLATION OF THE RIGHT OF DEFENCE
Chair of the Union of Judges, Mustafa Karadağ: This situation shows that the lawlessness that has been ongoing since 2007 is the government’s doing. The ministerial interference with the Akıncı indictment, the intervention of a columnist close to the government in Atilla Taş’s release and the removing of the Ankara chief prosecutor and his deputy from their posts brings to mind the removals from posts and manipulations of the 2007 Gulenist period.  The serving up of the indictment to third parties is a violation of the right to a fair trial and a violation of the right of defence. At the same time, it is also a violation of the right to a good name.
DISPLAY OF PARTIALITY
Ankara Bar Association Chair Hakan Canduran: Before the indictment is given to third parties, it must be submitted to the court and be accepted by the court. The compiling of an indictment on its own signifies nothing. For an indictment to appear page by page in a newspaper is a situation that is legally wrong. Perhaps that indictment will not be accepted at all. The serving up of the indictment amounts to a display of partiality. It violates the defendants’ rights. In fact, the defendants’ rights must be protected, too.