The complaint was filed by Ahmet Demir on Monday against the head of the appeals chamber, Ersan Ülker, and its members Hüseyin Boyrazoğlu, Hüseyin Eken, Saniye Tarhan, Halit Baysoy, Hamdi Yaver Aktan, Fatih Arkan and Salih Zeki İskender. In two separate cases, the chief prosecutor is accused of membership in a terrorist organization and abuse of power. The 11th Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals ruled on June 18 to merge the two cases without waiting for the original documents regarding the terror case and to release Cihaner from prison.
Demir argued in his complaint, which he filed through his lawyer, Adnan Şeker, that the appeals chamber violated the law because of the decision to set the chief prosecutor free. He said the members of the appeals chamber acted in line with a plan exposed in a voice recording, and thus abused their power.
A voice recording that made its way into many websites last month allegedly belongs to Aktan and Arkan. On the recording, Aktan is heard telling Arkan that he offered Ülker the leadership of the Supreme Court of Appeals if he could ensure that the two cases against Cihaner were merged and that Cihaner was freed from prison.
“The cases [against Cihaner] were merged through Xerox copies in a way to go down in Turkish legal system history, and the chief prosecutor was set free. The appeals chamber’s decision was met with applause, and the courtroom turned into a place of festivity. The members of the 11th Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals acted against the law by violating Article 138 of the Constitution, which stipulates the independence of the courts. Keeping the voice recording in mind, we can say that the judges in the chamber lost their impartiality as regards Cihaner and committed a crime,” the complaint read.
In the terror case, Cihaner is accused of working to carry out a suspected military plot aimed to undermine the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the faith-based Gülen movement in Erzincan. Titled the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism, the plan was devised by Col. Dursun Çiçek, who is currently in prison on charges of working to overthrow the government.
