Former police chief objects to non-prosecution of Turkey graft case

ISTANBUL - Anadolu Agency

This file photo shows a shoebox stuffed with dollars, left in protest at the prosecutor's desicion to abort the corruption case. DHA Photo

The sole complainant in the Dec. 17 corruption case has objected to the public prosecutor’s decision not to proceed against the 53 suspects in the case, including a number of high-profile names.

Orhan İnce submitted his objection, made up of 64 pages, to the Istanbul criminal courts of peace via his lawyer. İnce said in his petition that he had been removed from the case and assigned to another post aftermath the Dec. 17 operation went public, but stressed that the case should not be closed.

The court is expected to respond to his demand in the coming days.

Ekrem Aydıner, a prosecutor from the anti-terror and organized crime unit of the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office, decided on Oct. 17 not to proceed against 53 suspects in the initial Dec. 17 investigation.

Turkey was shaken by two graft probes on Dec. 17 and Dec. 25, 2013, against more than 100 suspects, including former ministers’ sons, the former manager of Halkbank, a prominent Iranian-Azeri businessman, and a construction tycoon, on accusations of bribery and the provision of illegal permits on building projects. While the Dec. 25 dossier was dismissed in May, the larger of the two dossiers from Dec. 17 was dismissed in October.