They are anachronistic in the sense that they failed to realize the resources the e-justice system provides to judges and prosecutors. They are suicidal in the sense that when it comes to investigating and judging military personnel they turn into advocates of the suspects and voluntarily give up their independence and neutrality.The masquerade we were made to watch live on the day Erzincan Chief Public Prosecutor İlhan Cihaner was arrested by an Erzurum court as part of an investigation run by specially authorized Erzurum prosecutor Osman Şanal proves that members of the higher judicial organs lose their tempers and manners when the “nerve endings” of army personnel are touched. As the chief of general staff -- unnamed in this column intentionally because s/he will stay unaccredited by the writer of this column as long as the General Staff continues to apply accreditation standards to the citizens of this country -- said, “Their patience has a limit,” and when that limit is surpassed, they respond through higher judicial organs.
At first look, there are no “military personnel” engaged in the dogfight between Cihaner and Şanal -- Cihaner being unquestionably supported by the HSYK, the Supreme Court of Appeals and the Council of State and Şanal being supported by members of the government. But we know that Şanal was also investigating the possible involvement of the commander of the 3rd Army, Gen. Saldıray Berk, in the Ergenekon-related plots against the government and certain civil society organizations. We don’t know what kind of evidence prosecutor Şanal had against Gen. Berk, but we remember the 25 military vehicles riding in the streets of Erzincan during a sensitive period to convey the message of readiness on the part of the 3rd Army to use force in the face of judicial processes against military personnel. Berk was given until Feb. 26 to show up at the office of the prosecutor. When the HSYK stripped the special authority of prosecutor Şanal on ultra vires charges, we knew that this decision had nothing to do with Şanal’s insistence on investigating Cihaner. The judges of the court that had given authorization to Şanal’s operation against Cihaner and that decided to arrest Cihaner are still on duty. If the HSYK were trying to punish unlawful activity in the investigation of a chief prosecutor, it would have had to punish the judges of the Erzurum court first. No, it didn’t. The decision to strip the special powers of the special prosecutor didn’t influence the judicial process that awaits Cihaner. It only saved, at first glance, Gen. Berk.
The suicidal dimension of the HSYK adjudication is that the HSYK judges bypassed the government and surpassed their constitutional authorities. The HSYK is there to secure the independence and neutrality of the judicial system, and by doing exactly the opposite, it destroyed its raison d’être. That is professional suicide.
The anachronistic dimension of the decision was revealed after the HSYK judges lost their temper and shared their decision with TV cameras even before their decision was delivered to Şanal. Apparently, the HSYK judges were not aware of the National Judiciary Informatics System (UYAP) that gave Şanal the necessary resources to delegate the investigation dossiers he had in hand to another prosecutor within hours. Şanal became aware of the decision of the HSYK through the TV broadcast, and before he received the official letter from the HSYK, he had enough time to hand over the investigation files on Cihaner and Gen. Berk to the prosecutors of the Ergenekon case in İstanbul. The Ergenekon prosecutors have already made it clear that neither investigation is closed and that Gen. Berk will be summoned for investigation anyhow.
The world is changing judges! Get yourself a computer and surf through the pages of international law reviews. This is not a call to resign; this is a call to life. You are destroying yourselves.
