Former Turkish banker's appeal hearing set for October

ISTANBUL

The lawyer of a former Turkish banking executive who was released last week from a federal U.S. prison said on July 24 that his appeal hearing will be in October.

“The court of appeals determined that the first hearing of the case of Mehmet Hakan Atilla will be held during the week of October 21,” Halil Uzun told Anadolu Agency.

Uzun said the judicial process is ongoing and Atilla hopes the court of appeals will overturn his conviction.

He stressed that there will not be any more hearings and they will wait for the court's decision.

Atilla, 48, the former deputy director-general at Turkish state lender Halkbank, was sentenced in May 2018 in New York for violating U.S. sanctions on Iran.

However, the judge allowed the time he had served after being arrested a year earlier to be credited in the sentence, and his release on July 19 was announced earlier due to good behavior.

When Atilla was convicted, Turkey blasted the verdict, calling it “a scandalous decision in a scandalous case” and “a conspiracy aimed at complicating Turkey's internal politics and intervening in Turkey's internal affairs".

Atilla's arrest came after Turkish businessman Riza Sarraf was arrested in 2016 in the U.S. for violating sanctions on Iran.

Cooperating with prosecutors, he gave testimony against Atilla which was used to convict the banker.