Berberoğlu’s lawyers appeal to top court over imprisonment decision

ANKARA

Imprisoned main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Istanbul lawmaker Enis Berberoğlu’s lawyers have appealed to the Constitutional Court over his imprisonment. 

“We have appealed to the court on the ground that the imprisonment decision for Enis Berberoğlu was unlawful,” Berberoğlu’s lawyer, Murat Ergün, said on June 23 at the Constitutional Court in Ankara after making an individual application to the top court. 

Ergün said the individual application of appealing the imprisonment was not made on the same case for the 25 years of prison time sentence, as it has been appealed to the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court only accepts applications in the event that domestic legal remedies are exhausted. 
 
“We appealed to the court for the decision of imprisonment because it was final. We stated that the imprisonment is a serious violation of the law. We said it violates the right to security and freedom in Article 19 and right to be elected in Article 67,” Ergün said.

Berberoğlu will be released for one day to attend his father-in-law’s funeral on a temporary license.

Berberoğlu was sentenced to 25 years in prison on June 14 for “leaking state secrets” in a Syria-bound intelligence trucks case, in which he is accused of providing daily Cumhuriyet with video purporting to show Turkey’s intelligence agency trucking weapons to Syria.

Ninth day of ‘Justice March’

Meanwhile, CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu entered the ninth day of his “Justice March” at the Şanalar village near the Yeniçağa district of the northwestern province of Bolu on June 23, saying he hopes “justice will be served.”
 
“This march is a sacred one. It has nothing to do with one party, one person or one NGO. We are walking for the demand for justice of the 80 million [Turkish people],” he added. 

On the ninth day, he is expected to walk another 19 kilometers, completing one-third of his 432-kilometer-long march. 

The march is attended by the Turkish Medical Association along with other NGOs and supporters. 

When asked about comments by Great Union Party (BBP) leader Mustafa Destici, who said the march aimed to unite opposition groups against the constitutional amendments, Kılıçdaroğlu said he “respected his opinions.”

“We have to avoid this. We have to avoid talking about what others have said about us. Mr. Destici can say that. And we should respect that,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.