Turkish prosecutors seek annulment of president's trial ruling for fraud

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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An Ankara court ruled last month that Gul should stand trial in a case involving members of the banned Welfare Party, or RP, convicted of embezzling money from the public Treasury in the 1990s.

In overturning the earlier ruling, the Ankara court cited "a loophole" in the Turkish Constitution regarding crimes one could have committed before being elected as the president.

The Ankara Public Prosecutor's Office had earlier ruled for the dismissal of legal proceedings against Gul over the case publicly known as "the missing trillions." As president, Gul enjoys immunity.

On Tuesday, the Public Prosecutor's Office said it completed an examination of the Ankara court's ruling and found it violated legal procedures and state laws, the state-run Anatolian Agency reported.

The Turkish Justice Ministry will now bring the issue before the Supreme Court of Appeals if it favors the findings and recommendations of the Public Prosecutor's Office.

The Supreme Court of Appeals will have the final say on the case, as legal experts are divided over whether Gul can stand trial.

Gul, a co-founder of the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, was elected president in 2007. The fraud case dates back to the late 1990s, when the RP, a predecessor to the AKP, was accused of misappropriating funds from the Treasury.

Several executives of the banned Islamic-rooted RP, of which Gul was the deputy chairman at the time, were convicted of falsifying party records and hiding millions of dollars in cash reserves ordered seized after the party was shut down in 1998.