Local court to re-try former CHP MP after high court urges

ISTANBUL

A local court in Istanbul has said it will retry former opposition lawmaker Enis Berberoğlu after it was advised by the chief prosecutor to implement a recent verdict of the Constitutional Court which said the former MP’s rights were violated when he was convicted and stripped of his immunity by the court.

Istanbul’s 14th Heavy Panel Court ruled on Feb. 8 to end the conviction of Berberoğlu who was sentenced on terror-related charges and to start his re-trial after the office of the chief prosecutor advised it to abide by the top court’s rulings in 2020 and early 2021.

The Grand Chamber of the Constitutional Court on Feb. 6 explained its first and second verdicts on Berberoğlu’s case in a correspondence to parliament and the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors and re-emphasized that its verdicts should be totally implemented by the lower courts and state bodies in line with the article 153 of the Constitution. It said non-compliance with its rulings was a severe violation of the Turkish Constitution.

The 14th Heavy Panel Court demanded a formal opinion from the office of the chief prosecutor in line with the Grand Chamber’s intervention.

In its opinion, the office of the prosecutor recalled the high court’s decisions and said Berberoğlu’s rights were violated when he was convicted by the local court and stripped of his parliamentarian status.

It also said that the Constitutional Court unanimously ruled on Jan. 21 that Berberoğlu, who was elected to parliament in the June 2018 elections, was denied benefiting from his parliamentarian immunity and his right to do politics and to be elected.