Lawyers Questioned Over Statements About Istanbul Municipality Case

Two defense lawyers in the Istanbul Municipality case went to Çağlayan Courthouse to give statements in an investigation over comments they made on BirGün TV. Hüseyin Ersöz represents detained defendant Aykut Erdoğdu, while Enes Ermaner represents Ramazan Gülten.

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office is examining statements linked to petitions submitted to the Istanbul 33rd High Criminal Court. Prosecutors have accused the lawyers of insulting a public official and attempting to influence a fair trial, according to the description of the case.

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The court did not file any criminal complaint.

Ersöz rejected the allegations. He said the comments concerned a petition submitted on Sept. 3 and a defense filed on Sept. 4, and that he had raised the same issues during proceedings before the court. He also noted that the judicial panel had not filed a criminal complaint over those statements.

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I would like to state that opening an investigation and taking a statement in this context, before authorization for an investigation has been received from the Justice Ministry, is unlawful.

Ersöz said he had referred in the interview to rulings by the 16th and 8th Criminal Chambers of Turkey’s Court of Cassation. He argued that citing higher-court decisions as precedents was common in court proceedings and that his remarks contained no criminal element.

He also argued that the investigation itself had not followed the required procedure. Because the statements were made as part of his work as a lawyer and defense counsel, he said, prosecutors should first obtain authorization from the Justice Ministry. Ermaner offered a similar defense, saying his comments were based on Court of Cassation rulings and protected by defense immunity. Both lawyers asked prosecutors to issue decisions not to prosecute.

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My statements fall within the scope of defense immunity.