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Ministry opposes Gül trial request, Ergin announces
Speaking at a reception on Monday night to mark the beginning of the new judicial year, Ergin told journalists that the Justice Ministry had overturned the court's ruling to try the president and referred the case to the Supreme Court of Appeals to be overruled.
An Ankara court ruling in May ordering President Abdullah Gül to stand trial in a decade-old fraud case, known as the “lost trillion case,” had come as a surprise to many because it ran counter to a prosecutor's recommendation made earlier. The Turkish Constitution is also clear in specifying that presidents cannot be tried for anything except treason. The court disagreed, saying, “It is written in the Turkish Republic's Constitution and laws that everyone should stand trial.”
In the criminal case, the administration of the now-defunct Welfare Party (RP) was accused of embezzling TL 1 trillion (equivalent to TL 1 million today) by forging documents in 1997. The leader of the party at the time, Necmettin Erbakan, and several party executives were imprisoned for the roles they played in the incident. Gül, who was the RP's deputy chairman responsible for foreign relations at the time, did not face trial because he had been re-elected as a deputy, thereby becoming immune from prosecution. However, experts say that even if he was tried he would have been acquitted because his duties in the party had nothing to do with financial affairs. Other party executives who did not handle financial affairs, such as Şevket Kazan, Recai Kutan and Oğuzhan Asiltürk, have all been acquitted. Even the deputy chairman and general accountant of the party were acquitted.
Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals Abdurrahman Yalçınkaya said the case would be referred to the Supreme Court of Appeals 11th Chamber after reviewing Gül's file.
Closes session on democratic initiative
Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Şahin also attended Monday's reception, where he told reporters that Parliament may hold a closed session when discussing a government initiative to end the Kurdish question by giving more rights and freedoms to Kurds.
Şahin refused to comment on a statement delivered earlier in the day by Hasan Gerçeker, president of the Supreme Court of Appeals, to mark the judicial new year. Gerçeker had criticized government efforts to reform the judiciary, saying a draft law in this direction had provisions that could potentially harm judicial impartiality.
Constitutional Court President Haşim Kılıç also talked to journalists at the reception. He praised Gerçeker for speaking his opinion in a very reserved manner and avoiding tension. He said a rapporteur was working on the government's draft on judicial reform, but noted that there were no suggestions as to changes that could be made to the Constitutional Court. “We will point out the parts we think are wrong when a concrete suggestion emerges, “Kılıç said.
He also responded to a question on when the Constitutional Court would hear a case against the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP). He said there were documents missing from the case, adding that three rapporteurs were working on these. He said the court would handle issues on the agenda in a speedy manner after handling cases that could not be reviewed in the past judicial year.
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