PM Outlines Security Package Blasted By Opposition

AYDIN ALBAYRAK / ANKARA
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has given details of a security package drawn up following recent violent protests and dismissed criticism that the package is a severe blow to fundamental rights.
As per the draft security bill, which Parliament's Justice Commission will start discussing during the week, harsher penalties will be introduced for those who resort to violence during demonstrations.
Davutoğlu, who underlined that every protest that turns violent will be considered a crime, said, “The moment you have an petrol bomb in your hand, the right to protest ends and violence begins.”

The draft bill, which also facilitates obtaining warrants for wiretapping by giving a penal judge of peace power to issue orders to authorize them, proposes critical changes to the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) and the Code on Criminal Procedure (CMK).

Opposition parties have criticized the security bill, saying the government is using the recent violent protests as an excuse to clamp down on freedoms.

“Restricting democratic processes by using violence as an excuse represents a leaning towards dictatorship,” Haluk Koç, spokesperson of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), has told Today's Zaman.
The new draft says the approval of only one penal court of peace judge is needed to obtain a wiretap warrant. A parliamentary commission of 17 deputies will be established in Parliament to monitor wiretaps performed by the police for judicial investigations.
The package was brought to the agenda right after the violent protests two weeks ago by sympathizers of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which is recognized as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the EU and the US.

According to Koç, who is also a deputy chairman of the party, the aim of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is to silence by intimidation all those who raise their voices against the government.

Maintaining that vandalism in recent protests is being used by the government as an excuse to introduce legislation peculiar to dictatorships, “Security is not ensured through measures that restricts fundamental rights and freedoms,” Koç said.

During the recent protests, in which around 40 people lost their lives, most of which were due to violence by protesters themselves, hundreds of public and private buildings, shops and vehicles were set on fire or seriously damaged usually by petrol bombs around the country. Shops were also looted. Most protesters covered their faces with scarves or material to conceal their identity.

As per the bill, judges will no longer enjoy any discretion in favor of the protesters regarding the use of gasoline bombs in protests, thus paving the way for them to get off scot-free unless they commit another crime within a certain time period.

Underlining that gasoline bombs are tools for attacks, Davutoğlu said, “Those who take to the street with masks on their faces will be treated as potential criminals.”

Penalties for those who take part in protests with weapons will be increased. They will be sentenced from two-and-a-half years up to four years in prison so that their sentence would not be put off to a later date.

According to Faruk Bal, a Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) member of Parliament's Justice Commission, the bill is part of the government's habit of restricting freedoms whenever possible.

“Whenever possible, they [the government] are taking steps to restrict individual rights and freedoms,” Bal told Today's Zaman.
As per the bill submitted to Parliament last week, the police will be given the authority to keep suspects under detention for 24 hours. Under current legislation, police need the permission of a prosecutor to detain a suspect.

Davutoğlu dismissed criticism that the bill gives wider powers to the police force. “Nobody has the right to ask whether Turkey is turning into a police state and whether the police force is being given broader rights,” he said.

The bill will also make it easier for the police to search the homes and workplaces of suspects as well as that of ordinary people, since with the bill it will be enough for security forces to have “reasonable suspicion” to conduct a search, rather than the current need for “strong suspicion based on concrete evidence.”

However, Davutoğlu said “nobody will be searched arbitrarily” based on the new changes, maintaining that police would use its authorities only if there was “strong evidence and intelligence” against a potential criminal.

In one of the most controversial proposals, the bill limits lawyers' rights to examine the content of case files. According to the bill, lawyers will be able to see the content of the files and the evidence only after the indictment concerning a specific case is accepted by a court.

“Amendments introduced are aimed at using the politicized judiciary as a weapon. The draft submitted under the guise of a security package is part of this [chain],” Bal said.

The bill also seeks to broaden the ability to confiscate the properties of individuals. While this authority is currently limited with crimes related to “armed organizations” and “providing weaponry to armed organizations,” crimes against the government such as “armed rebellion against the government” will be added if the bill is approved.
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Gendarmerie, coast guard to be subordinated to Interior Ministry

The Interior Ministry will also be restructured with the new security package. In a step that Prime Minister Davutoğlu praised as revolutionary, the Gendarmerie General Command and the Coast Guard Command will be subordinated to the Interior Ministry. Davutoğlu said all issues regarding these two commands will be under the authority of the Interior Ministry except military issues. Members of the gendarmerie will wear a special uniform to be designed by the ministry.

Ali Aslan Kılıç contributed to this report.
(Cihan/Today’s Zaman)