Prosecutor seeks to lift parliamentary immunity of CHP deputy Özkan

ISTANBUL

DHA photo

The Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has applied to the General Directorate of Criminal Affairs of the Justice Ministry in order to lift the parliamentary immunity of main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Tuncay Özkan. 

A complaint was filed against Tuncay over “insulting” via social media after he shared a photo of local man Ramazan İşhan, who was mistakenly identified as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) attacker who killed 39 people at Reina nightclub on New Year’s Eve. 

İşhan’s photo had been widely shared on social media following the attack on Jan. 1, after which he voluntarily went to the police headquarters to prove that he was not the attacker. 

İşhan’s lawyer, Mustafa Serdar Akdoğan, filed complaints against Özkan and a number of websites that used the photo. Bakırköy Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor Kadir Yılmaz then launched an investigation into Özkan and demanded the lifting of his immunity from the Justice Ministry. 

“Here’s the treacherous terrorist who carried out the attack on Reina. Everyone should share these photos,” Özkan had written on his official Facebook account, sharing a photo of İşhan. 

In the summary of proceedings, it was stated that İşhan had been victimized due to social media users sharing his photo without any confirmation or citing any source. 

İşhan has demanded a separate process to be carried out for Özkan over defamation, and the summary also states that Özkan was warned that the photo he shared had nothing to do with the Reina attacker Abdulkadir Mashgaripov. 

“I’m sorry for misleading you citing several websites. I apologize to you and Mr. Ramazan,” Özkan later wrote on social media. 

However, the summary of proceedings said that the apology did not atone for the crime.