Constitutional Court accuses daily of fabricating top judge's statements

ANKARA

Turkey’s Constitutional Court has accused daily Posta of fabricating statements attributed to Haşim Kılıç's, the court’s head judge, in an article published on Dec. 5.
 
According to daily Posta article, Kılıç has said that all imprisoned deputies should be freed following the court’s landmark ruling that the long imprisonments of two main opposition deputies, Mustafa Balbay and Mehmet Haberal, are a “violation of rights.”
 
“The unjust treatment of deputies who have imprisoned should cease after [the ruling]. Legal action should be taken once again,” Kılıç was quoted as saying by daily Posta in a phone interview.
 
"The main violation was the refusal to release the subject individuals when they were elected as deputies in June 2011,” he added according to quotes reported by Posta’s article.
 
The court published a written statement later on Dec. 5 denying Kılıç had made such remarks. Kılıç’s statements should be understood as “the representation of the people was violated consequent to the long detentions of Balbay and Haberal,” the court said. 
 
“Remarks [attributed to Kılıç] other than this statement are commentaries made by the journalist who wrote the article. The chief judge has not commented on the consequences of the decision until now. It is clear that comments that may cause misunderstandings and misinterpretations among the public should be avoided,” the courts statement added.
 
The Constitutional Court's decision was welcomed by many politicians, including President Abdullah Gül, who voiced his satisfaction on Dec. 5 over the landmark ruling, saying the top court demonstrated the rule of law existence in Turkey.