Some prosecutors will be immune from HSYK examination

ANKARA

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ explained his position on the issue at a meeting with Ankara bureau chiefs of media outlets Jan. 8. AA photo

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said Jan. 8 he has not been planning to give the required permission to the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) to examine certain prosecutors and a police chief.

Bozdağ made his decision public Jan. 8 at a meeting with Ankara bureau chiefs of media outlets, only a day after the 3rd Chamber of the HSYK decided to examine prosecutors who have been conducting the extensive graft probe and freshly appointed Istanbul Police Chief Selami Altınok following complaints. 

Zekeriya Öz, the Istanbul deputy chief prosecutor who supervised the prosecutors, Prosecutor Muammer Akkaş, Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Turan Çolakkadı, and Istanbul Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor Oktay Erdoğan were among the prosecutors to be examined.

The HSYK decision had to be approved by Bozdağ because he is the legal head of the board. 
Bozdağ told bureau chiefs he does not plan to give permission for the examination of Altınok, Çolakkadı and Erdoğan, the Anadolu Agency reported. The agency did not elaborate on whether Bozdağ made a justification for his decision. 

Öz and Akkaş have been among the main prosecutors in an investigation into a widening corruption scandal engulfing Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey.

Öz has been reassigned following media reports over alleged corruption.

Regarding Altınok, who has been under the protection of the minister, took over from Hüseyin Çapkın on Dec. 19, 2013, two days after the sons of three then-ministers were taken into custody in police raids as part of the graft probe. As civil servant and former governor of the Central Anatolian province of Aksaray, Altınok’s appointment surprised many at the time, as he does not have a police oriented background.