High court urged to punish 3 top judges instead of talking

In a voice recording posted to a file-sharing website on Monday, three members of the Supreme Court of Appeals talked about what could be done to prevent a “yes” from coming out of the referendum. They also stated that terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan was crucial for generating opposition to constitutional reforms, ahead of the referendum, scheduled for Sept. 12

Gerçeker yesterday said that if the allegations were true, then legal action would be taken against those involved. However, experts say the chief judge should “walk the walk” instead of making weak comments. Reşat Petek, a retired chief prosecutor, said, “They said the same thing about an earlier voice recording in the Erzincan case,” referring to a recording in which three judges openly made plans to get a prosecutor accused of aiding the Ergenekon terrorist organization freed. Petek continued: “But there was no information that an investigation had in fact been launched. They could have said there is a confidential probe going on, but it has been launched and gone into the records. But there was no such concrete statement. So when they say, ‘The necessary actions will be taken,' could the purpose simply be a cover-up?” As he says he is currently not on duty [Gerçeker also underlined that the judicial year is presently in recess] and since he hasn't cut short his holiday, his statement has no legal significance. It is only a ‘personal wish' statement.”

Petek said as long as Gerçeker or other senior Supreme Court of Appeals administrators do not make concrete statements announcing that an investigation has begun, their words would be meaningless.

Aktan admits his voice

Voices in the recording allegedly belong to judges Hamdi Yaver Aktan and Yusuf Uluç, the heads of the Supreme Court of Appeals’ 8th Criminal Chamber and 8th Legal Chamber, respectively. Aktan yesterday confirmed that it was him on the recording but said speeches made in different places had been put together in the recording. In a statement to the Cumhuriyet daily Aktan, accused the government of illegally wiretapping Supreme Court of Appeals offices to turn public sentiment against the judiciary.

Aktan, in remarks published in the Cumhuriyet daily yesterday, admitted it was his voice in the recording, but he said different sentences he had uttered had been edited into a single file to create negative publicity for the judiciary. He also said that there had never been a meeting in which Uluç, Arkan and he were in a single room.

At one point in the recording, the speakers also say their contact with the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) was the reason behind that party’s decision to boycott the referendum. A third person’s voice, allegedly that of Judge Fatih Arkan, is also heard in one of three recordings posted on the website dailymotion.com on Monday.

Adem Çevik, head of the civil society group the Justice Platform, unfurls a banner criticizing the judiciary in his protest of the voice recordings.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also commented on the voice recordings yesterday. He said the recordings were a result of the Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) past efforts to create a judiciary that serves only the CHP’s aims. He recalled that former CHP Justice Ministers Seyfi Oktay and Mehmet Moğultay had admitted that they favored their own cronies. Moğultay said, “What was I supposed to do, appoint MHP supporters, idealists, or Welfare Party [RP] partisans?” He said the mentality in the recordings reflected the CHP’s mentality.

Group files complaint

Meanwhile, a civil society group called the Justice Platform filed a criminal complaint against Aktan and the two other alleged owners of the voices featured in the recordings. Adem Çevik, head of the group, used toy monkeys to depict the proverbial “three monkeys,” each covering the other monkeys’ mouth, eyes and lips with their limbs, in a press statement outside the Ankara Prosecutor’s Office yesterday after submitting the complaint.

In the three days since the recording was leaked, the Supreme Court of Appeals Presidency has not said a word, drawing intense reaction from the country’s jurists and government members alike. Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek on Wednesday talked about the recording, in which one of the speakers also said they wanted to see “chaos” in Turkey. Çiçek said: “If the voice recording is authentic, they really want chaos for personal benefit. This is an insane expression. There are people who have hopes for terrorism. I don’t know what to say about such a mentality.” He said the conversation was blatant proof of the judiciary’s politicization.

Also on Wednesday, Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin spoke on the tape. He said the allegations were scandalous. “It is a scandal that shows how non-political actors are cooperating in the referendum process.”

The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) also wanted an explanation. The deputy head of the MHPs parliamentary group, Oktay Vural, said: “This is simply a scandal. How can this be? We do not know if these are facts, but the allegations are very serious. I think those involved will make a statement. Is this true or not? They really need to make an explanation.”

Özbek accuses recording airer

Head of the Supreme Court of Appeals Hasan Gerçeker yesterday said that if the allegations were true, then legal action would be taken against those involved.

Kadir Özbek, deputy president of the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), made a very interesting statement. Özbek is known for earlier attempts to protect judiciary-related suspects in the case of Ergenekon, a clandestine organization accused of having plotted to overthrow the democratically elected Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government. Özbek criticized the posting of the voice recordings. “Two people, when they are alone, can speak about very personal things. You may or may not approve of what they say, but secretly revealing this is a crime. This is what should be investigated.” In a specific question on what he thought of the content of the conversation between the judges, Özbek said, “I see this as a critique they made among themselves.”

Speaking to a group of journalists waiting outside the HSYK building on Wednesday morning, Özbek said, “I don’t know the details, but it is impossible to approve of the content.” “But what should be investigated is why the rooms of these friends of ours were bugged. Why was there someone spying on them and why have these recordings been shared?”

He also said that the judges were not in a position to negotiate with PKK leader Öcalan. “It is impossible for these friends of ours given their position or [opportunities] to negotiate with Öcalan and the like or to reap any benefit from them.” He said there was a purposeful attempt to twist the judges’ words and use it against the high judiciary.

Head of the parliamentary Justice Commission Ahmet İyimaya called on the Supreme Court of Appeals to make a statement, saying, “Nobody has the right to pollute the law using the robe of justice.”

What they say in the recording

The recordings, two of which appear to be part of the same conversation, suggest that the pro-Kurdish BDP boycott decision came after Turgut Kazan – a lawyer who is defending various suspects in the case against Ergenekon, a self-named organization charged with plotting to overthrow the government – had talks with BDP Chairman Selahattin Demirtaş. The two speakers in the recording praise the BDP for not being religious, for having left-wing administrators and being close to the CHP. The speakers say that the CHP should help the BDP during the referendum process. The speakers also make shocking remarks about jailed PKK leader Öcalan, saying, “Öcalan is greatly needed in this process.” They further say that if a “yes” emerges from the referendum package vote on Sept. 12, that that “will be our end.”