Recent developments in legal arena occurred in last week highlight the pressure increasing towards the rights of freedom of expression and personal freedom and security of the public opposition.
Although punishment given to Selahattin Demirtaş who is President of the BDP caused by his speech delivered a major blow to the freedom of expression, it is also understood as a typical discriminatory implementation. As a violation to the ECHR’s regulations, the Article 90 of the Constitution was violated again while ignoring his parliamentary impunity. This situation is a concrete sign showing very existence of extraordinary prosecution process.
The existence of such prosecution process can also be proved by the fact that 13 people including Rıdvan Turan (the President of SDP) and executives of the same party and the Representative of the Public Freedom Platform and Hanefi Avcı (Chief Constable) were arrested within the same investigation. This is an unusual process that the politicians who work legally are arrested charging with having relations with illegal organization. By maintaining the trials without arrest, the people who were arrested must be released. The freedom of opinions of Hanefi Avcı who is charged caused by his book was limited. Such examples prove that these judgments are maintained in political terms.
In the Brussels Summit of the Presidents of the EU Countries, the AKP Government adopted a security-based limited freedom policy in the new penal legislation prepared in parallel with the decision of negotiation of full membership, along with aim of limiting freedoms, punishing opinions and expressions, placing heavy arrestment process and adopting the Special Competent Heavy Criminal Courts and Prosecutors (ex-DGMs). This policy is a limiting freedom policy based on security concerns like what happened all over the world after 9/11. Continuation of this policy is one of the biggest obstacles for the democratization in Turkey.
The abolishment of the State Security Courts (DGM) was decided by changing the Law No 5170 gazetted on 22.05.2004 and removing the Law No 143. However, the establishment of Special Competent Heavy Criminal Courts and Prosecutors is decided by the Articles of 250, 251 and 252 of the Law of Criminal Procedures No 5271 gazetted on 17.12.2004 through changing procedures and methods of ex-DGMs. The reason of the abolishment of the DGMs was that they needed to be reformed along with the EU standards in consideration of the EU Accession Partnership 2003 and the Progress Report in 2003. While the AKP Government forgot all the promises that were made regarding the start of the negotiations of full membership, the old DGM system were converted to new CMK system.
It is stated not to establish extraordinary competent authorities with jurisdictions in the Article 37 and to adopt the natural judge principle in the Article 38 of the Constitution. The Special Competent Heavy Criminal Courts and Prosecutors exist illegally regarding these articles. Moreover, they are functioning against the fundamental principles such as the rule of law and right to fair trial regulated in international covenants in area of human rights which were ratified also by Turkey. Usually, trials opened against the public opposition groups are maintained under such courts. Yet, in order to maintain the process of such courts, there are a lot of regulations under the CMK including investigations, wiretappings, audio surveillances and testimonies of secret victims. Thus, the problem occurs within legal decisions under the Law on Criminal Procedures (CMK) in terms of violations of human rights and constitutional law. The political power needs to make changes aiming to actualize the rule of law in the Law on Criminal Procedures and to secure the right to fair trial of the nationals. Such problems occurring in the legal area are destructing the sense of justice in the public conscience day by day. The political power cannot neglect this problem anymore.
The Human Rights Association shall demand the abolishment of the Special Competent Heavy Criminal Courts and Prosecutors which are against the Constitution in the frame of the campaign of ‘Justice for Everyone and Every Parts of Society’ which shall be started in near future.
Human Rights Association (IHD)
Headquarters