Atalay case sent to Court of Appeals

ANKARA

An Istanbul court has referred the case of imprisoned Worker’s Party of Türkiye (TİP) lawmaker Can Atalay, linked to the 2013 Gezi Park protest, to the Court of Appeals despite a second Constitutional Court ruling on violation of rights.

Last week, the top court ruled for the second time that Atalay's "right to be elected" and "personal freedom and security" rights were breached. In similar cases within the Turkish legal system, following a comparable decision by the Constitutional Court, the local court should have issued a release.

However, the local court forwarded the case to the Court of Appeals, noting that the violation decision by the Constitutional Court did not pertain to the Istanbul court's decision and, therefore, was not within its jurisdiction and responsibility.

As the first decree by the top court also saw the same ruling, the decision to send the file to the Court of Appeals was made unanimously by the local court.

In the first row, the Court of Appeals ruled to disregard a Constitutional Court decision, refusing to comply with the violation decision and release order regarding Atalay.

Instead, they mandated that Atalay's case be forwarded to the parliament for deliberation on his parliamentary membership's termination.

This unprecedented situation has raised concerns about a crisis between the two highest courts in the country. The Court of Appeals filed criminal complaints against nine Constitutional Court members, including the head of the court, Zühtü Aslan.

Following the second ruling declaring right of violations for the TİP lawmaker, the top court on Dec. 26 accused of the Court of Appeals of violating the constitution by failing to comply with its decision.