Point of prosecutor appointments unclear

The HSYK announced late on Tuesday that three new prosecutors would be assigned to the Ergenekon case, an investigation in which 86 suspects are currently standing trial for various charges. Other suspected members, including military officers on active duty, have also been detained pending indictment.

Analysts have commented that there might be a conspiratorial motive behind the appointments since they come only two weeks after Aydınlık -- a publication issued by the Worker' Party (İP), whose chairman and other administrators are accused of membership in Ergenekon -- printed an article titled, "Appeal to the HSYK: Assign real prosecutors to the case." In its Jan. 18, 2009 issue, Aydınlık published an article complaining about Zekeriya Öz, the chief prosecutor of the case. The article commented that "judicial circles would like to see the HSYK assign experienced jurists to the investigation."

Justice Ministry officials say six authorized prosecutors are working on the Ergenekon trial, a situation that has caused a lack of prosecutors for other cases handled by the İstanbul Prosecutor's Office. İstanbul Deputy Chief Prosecutor Turan Çolakkadı last week announced that some appointments would be made but noted that the Prosecutor's Office would be deciding what case each prosecutor was assigned to. According to this interpretation, the new prosecutors might not be working on the Ergenekon case, but, as of yesterday, it was not clear what the exact role of the new prosecutors would be.

"Konya Just Jurists' Association [KaDenge] is concerned that the investigation might end in a decision that would not satisfy public consciousness through certain statements and interventions," said KaDenge President Erhan Şahin, expressing that he is concerned the move might be followed by yet another move to replace the prosecutors.

"We don't even want to think about what these appointments have anything to do with the Ergenekon trial. Assigning prosecutors to a case next to prosecutors who are already conducting the case is only about watering down the case.

If this appointment is indeed about Ergenekon, it would really go beyond its purpose,” said İdris Şahin, head of the Çankırı Bar Association.

“The Turkish nation trusts the prosecutor on the case and so should the HSYK,” said Yusuf Başer, head of the Yozgat Bar association. “If the prosecutors assigned will be working under the orders of Zekeriya Öz, there will not be too many problems. In the opposite case, the trial would be watered down.”

Tokat Bar Association President Faruk Bostancı said: “We don’t know if these prosecutors will be assigned to the Ergenekon trial. If this was done to close an inadequacy in the prosecutor’s office, there’s nothing wrong with this appointment. But if they are involved in the Ergenekon investigation, that would be absolutely wrong.”

Attempts to influence judiciary

Many jurists say recent statements by Judges and Prosecutors Union (YARSAV) head Ömer Faruk Eminağaoğlu and former Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Prosecutor Sabih Kanadoğlu, favoring different prosecutors, might have had an influence on the HSYK. These statements and the Aydınlık article are seen as an attempt to influence the judiciary. However, not everybody agrees. Former Chief Prosecutor Reşat Petek commented on the decision, saying: “Judges don’t make decisions based on articles published in a journal. They behave according to the law.” He also said he didn’t think the HSYK would take demands for assigning new prosecutors to the case seriously as long as there was solid evidence against the current prosecutor being involved in any wrongdoing. He said the law also called for keeping the prosecutor in charge of a gang-related case on the same investigation for at least four years.

Yılmaz Geniş, chairman of the Boğaziçi Lawyers’ Association, agreed, saying: “It is obvious that such publications are trying to put pressure on the judiciary. Such publications have the purpose of spreading disinformation in the society. The HSYK is independent; we don’t think it will yield to such pressure.”

Jurists’ Association head Kamil Uğur Yaralı also said he believed the assignments were being misinterpreted. “If Prosecutor Zekeriya Öz is taken off the team, this should be seen as intervention. There is a media group trying to influence public opinion with false news stories. But when one looks at the entirety of the events, everything is in accordance with the law.”

HSYK assignments to the prosecutor’s office

The HSYK noted on its Web site yesterday that prosecutors Rasim Işıkaltın, Kasım İlimoğlu and Mustafa Çavuşoğlu were assigned to the İstanbul Prosecutor’s Office and given the status of specially authorized prosecutors. Işıkaltın is known for an investigation into Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan while Erdoğan served as mayor of İstanbul.

The former Supreme Court of Appeals chief prosecutor had ruled in the investigation into Erdoğan over suspicion of rigging some public city tenders during his term as the mayor of İstanbul, outside his jurisdictional powers, and referred the case to Prosecutor Işıkaltın, who indicted Erdoğan.

Işıkaltın had also filed a complaint against Yücel Sayman, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs in the murder trial of Turkish-Armenian Journalist Hrant Dink, who was gunned down in 2007 in an assassination currently blamed on Ergenekon. Işıkaltın’s complaint accused Sayman of having insulted Kemal Kerinçsiz, an ultra-nationalist lawyer currently in jail as an Ergenekon suspect. Işıkaltın demanded one to two years in jail for Sayman, who was acquitted at the end of the trial.

CHP’s Kart files complaint against Ergenekon prosecutors

Republican People’s Party (CHP) Konya Deputy Atilla Kart on Tuesday filed a criminal complaint with the HSYK against the prosecutors on the Ergenekon case, accusing them of conducting the investigation under the influence of their own personal relations and also of having violated the confidentiality of the probe. Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Şahin dismissed the allegations that the new prosecutors were assigned to water down the trial. “We have to respect all our prosecutors. It is disrespectful to draw distinctions between our prosecutors,” he said yesterday.