Bar Association Files Appeal Against Dropping Of Charges In Graft Probe

The İzmir Bar Association has filed an appeal against the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office's decision to drop corruption and bribery charges against 53 suspects in a major corruption investigation that implicated many high-ranking state officials, bureaucrats and businessmen on Dec. 17 of last year.

In the petition it filed with the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on Friday, the İzmir Bar Association stated that the decision of the prosecutor's office to drop the major corruption probe is both unlawful and outside of procedure.

The petition will be sent to the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office via the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, and in it the bar association also asked the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office to cancel its decision to drop the corruption charges.

Stating that Turkey is a state of law, the İzmir Bar Association said in its petition, “Everyone has the right to a fair trial, either as a plaintiff or defendant, via legitimate means and ways in front of all judicial authorities.”

The highly publicized Dec. 17 graft investigation implicated the sons of several ministers, pro-government businessmen and the chief of state-run Halkbank. At the heart of the probe was Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab, who was allegedly involved in a money-laundering scheme as part of a strategy to bypass US-led sanctions on Iran.

On Oct. 17, the İstanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office decided there were no grounds for legal action against the suspects -- including Zarrab, Barış Güler (the son of the former interior minister), Salih Kaan Çağlayan (the son of the former economy minister) and former Halkbank General Manager Süleyman Aslan -- because evidence had not been collected properly, there was insufficient evidence, the elements of an offense were nonexistent and no traces of organized crime were found.

The alleged crimes against the suspects, as listed by prosecutors, included: “The transfer of lands with a value of billions of dollars at very low prices; the seizure of mines from businessmen by force; tender-rigging; illegally giving state tenders worth billions of dollars to businessmen; changing the status of protected areas through bribery and opening these [areas] for construction and making large profits off of them.”

Since the investigation was made public in December, then-Prime Minister and current President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has sought to discredit the prosecutors and police officers involved by accusing them of working to oust the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) from power. Those prosecutors and police officers, along with tens of thousands of others, have been reassigned.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)