Jurists laud Ergenekon court decision, envisage re-arrest for Cihaner

The decision was met with appreciation by many jurists, who said the chief prosecutor could be re-arrested by the İstanbul court although a chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals decided to release him from prison two weeks ago. “The [İstanbul] court decision shows that the Supreme Court of Appeals was wrong in its ruling [for release]. The appeals court decision undermined people's trust in the judiciary. The İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court moved to strengthen people's faith in the higher judiciary,” stated former prosecutor Sacit Kayasu.

There are two ongoing cases against Cihaner. In a case being heard by the Erzurum 2nd High Criminal Court, he stands accused of Ergenekon membership.

According to an Erzurum prosecutor, the chief prosecutor was working to put into operation a suspected coup plan, titled the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism, in Erzincan. The plan was drafted by Col. Çiçek, who is currently in jail on coup charges.

In a case being heard by the Supreme Court of Appeals Cihaner stands accused of abuse of power and falsification of documents. On June 18, however, the 11th Chamber decided to merge the two cases and release Cihaner pending trial. The appeals chamber did so without even examining the original documents regarding the Cihaner terror file, although it did reference photocopies.

The controversial decision spurred the Erzurum court into action. The court forwarded the Cihaner case file to the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court and requested that the terror case against the chief prosecutor be merged with the Çiçek case. The İstanbul court deliberated the request on Friday and decided to merge the Cihaner and Çiçek cases.

According to leading jurists, there is no obstacle now to the re-arrest of the chief prosecutor.

“The İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court said in its decision that the appeals court has no authority to rule on the Cihaner cases. The court may decide to re-arrest Cihaner. There is no obstacle to it,” stated Boğaziçi Lawyers’ Association President Bilal Çalışır.

To former Prosecutor Gültekin Avcı, the appeals chamber is not entitled to merge a terror case with an abuse of power case. “The valid decision belongs to the İstanbul court. It possesses the original file [of the Cihaner terror case]. A merger decision without an examination on the original case file has no judicial validity. The İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court will continue to try the suspects and may even decide to re-arrest them,” he noted.

Retired Chief Prosecutor Reşat Petek said the İstanbul court’s decision is worth applauding. He noted that the 11th Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals usurped the authority of the Erzurum court and ruled to merge the Cihaner cases. The İstanbul court, however, eliminated that injustice with its decision, he said.

Çiçek set to appear before judge today

Col. Çiçek will appear before the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court today to defend himself against claims that he devised a subversive plan to undermine the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government and the faith-based Gülen movement.

The colonel was put behind bars in late April on charges of attempting to overthrow the government as well as membership in a terrorist organization.

The Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism was first exposed by a Turkish daily last year. The document details a Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) plan to destroy the image of the AK Party government and the Gülen movement in the eyes of the public, to play down the Ergenekon investigation and to gather support for members of the military as part of the investigation into Ergenekon.

An indictment against the colonel recommends life sentences without the possibility of parole for him on charges of working to bring down the government and membership in a terrorist organization. The indictment also demands up to 22.5 years in prison for former İstanbul Mayor Bedrettin Dalan, on whose land a large arms cache was discovered in April of last year. The indictment also mentions five other suspects: Dalan’s secretary İlhami Ümit Handan, lawyer Serdar Öztürk, National Intelligence Organization (MİT) official Ö.Y., Ulusal TV security head Ufuk Akkaya and Aydınlık Editor-in-Chief Deniz Yıldırım. The document calls for jail terms of at least seven-and-a-half years for the suspects. Dalan will be absent from today’s trial, as he is currently at large abroad.