Senior judge goes on trial at Supreme Court

A retired Appeals Court judge accused of taking bribes while on active duty went on trial yesterday at the Supreme Court in a rare case of a senior judge answering charges at Turkey’s top judicial body.

Hasan Erdoğan, the former head of the Appeals Court’s Sixth Chamber, faces up to 18 years in jail under Turkish penal code provisions that call for higher penalties for bribery if the offense is committed by judicial officials.

In 2008, the defendant allegedly accepted $300,000 in bribes from the Istanbul-based World Trade Center to ensure that they won an eviction case against the CNR Expo company, which was renting from the former.

At the first hearing yesterday, the defense argued that evidence in the probe against Erdoğan, including wiretaps, had been collected through unlawful means and that the case was based on the findings of a Justice Ministry inspector who dealt with the issue without proper authorization.

The Supreme Court is the name the Constitutional Court takes when it tries ministers and senior members of the judiciary.