2023-07-14 19:43:58
Ankara. The 3rd Penal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals rejected the request for the stay of the trial and the release of Can Atalay, who was elected as a deputy from Hatay in the 14 May elections. Although the 3rd Criminal Chamber refers to the Article 83 of the Constitution granting “immunity” to the deputies, “None of the rights and freedoms contained in the Constitution can be taken in the form of activities aimed at disrupting the indivisible integrity of the State with its territory and nation and abolishing the democratic and secular Republic based on human rights. Noting that the 14th article with the inscription “cannot be used” limits this immunity, the Workers’ Party of Turkey did not allow the release of the deputy.
Emphasis on “terrorist crimes” from the 3rd Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals
While contradicting the previous decisions of the Constitutional Court (AYM) regarding MPs Leyla Güven and Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, the Chamber argued that “the Constitutional Court does not have the authority to fundamentally annul the current constitutional norm”:
“Otherwise, the people wanted with a red notice to be investigated and prosecuted for the terrorist crimes counted against them because they have carried out many bloody terrorist acts that aim at the indivisible integrity of the Republic of Turkey with its state and nation, and who are wanted with a red notice, will be elected and take an oath, which is legally correct. It is impossible to defend.”
Thus, the detention of Can Atalay, who was elected as a member of parliament two months ago, has not ended. Atalay was sentenced to 18 years in prison by the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court on April 25, 2022, and the court’s decision was upheld by the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice on December 28, 2022.
Sırrı Süreyya Önder: “I would like to state that I see this as an intervention in political will”
There were many reactions from the political world to the decision. Sirri Süreyya Önder, the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, who manages the General Assembly of the Assembly today, criticized the decision of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals.
The Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey said, “The decision of our deputy, Mr. Can Atalay, who was not here, would be issued today. The decision is negative. I would like to state that I see this as an interference with the political will,” he said.
Erkan Baş: “With the instruction from the Palace to the Supreme Court, Can Atalay’s detention continues unlawfully”
Evaluating Can Atalay’s decision to continue his detention as unlawful, the Workers’ Party of Turkey declared that it would not bow to this decision.
Erkan Baş, Chairman of the Workers’ Party of Turkey, said, “With the instruction from the Palace to the Supreme Court, Can Atalay’s detention continues unlawfully. I appeal to the judiciary, which has become the notary public of the Palace: You are imprisoning a person who was sent to the Parliament by the people who came out of the rubble in Hatay, saying ‘seek our rights’. With this decision, you are punishing not only Can but all Hatay people. The days when you will need the justice you are killing now will come very soon,” he said.
President of the TBB: “This decision violates the right of a deputy to serve in the parliament and also ignores the right of our citizens to vote”
The legal world also criticizes the decision of the 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals.
The President of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB) Erinç Sağkan shared on his social media account, “The Supreme Court’s decision on Can Atalay is clearly against the precedent decisions of the Constitutional Court that ‘Article 14 of the Constitution should be interpreted narrowly in favor of rights and freedoms’. This decision violated the right of a member of parliament to serve in the parliament, as well as the right of our citizens to vote,” he wrote.
prof. Kaboğlu: “The decision of Deputy Can Atalay of the 3rd Penal Chamber of the Supreme Court is clearly a violation of the Constitution”
İbrahim Kaboğlu, President of the Constitutional Law Studies Association, said that the decision was a “clear violation of the Constitution”.
A professor of constitutional law, who is also a former CHP deputy, said, “The decision of the Deputy of the 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals, Can Atalay, is clearly a violation of the Constitution. Despite the absence of ‘law’, the rejection decision was based on opinion, not law, with a forced interpretation of the Constitution. The decision of the Chamber, which does not recognize the decisions of the Constitutional Court and the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Appeals, and ignores the YSK decision, is unconstitutional. The judiciary, which is obliged to abide by the bindingness and supremacy of the Constitution, cannot be a means of destroying the constitutional order.
In the meantime, the parliamentary questions prepared by Hatay Deputy Can Atalay in prison regarding the earthquake zone; It was not processed on the grounds that he did not “take an oath”.
Can Atalay is the only detainee of the 600-member Turkish Grand National Assembly. (yenivatan.at)
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