CHP calls on top court for decision on imprisoned CHP lawmaker
ANKARA
Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) spokesperson Bülent Tezcan called out on the Constitutional Court to make a decision on the imprisoned CHP lawmaker Enis Berberoğlu, noting that the lawmaker has been in prison for 300 days.
“It has been 300 days since Enis Berberoğlu was arrested. A lawmaker in Turkey, where the law does not work and justice is controlled by politics, has been a hostage for 300 days and the Constitutional Court hasn’t made a decision on this subject yet,” Tezcan said on April 9 following the CHP Central Executive Board Meeting.
Berberoğlu, the CHP’s Istanbul lawmaker, is a former journalist who was initially sentenced to 25 years in jail and put in prison on June 14, 2017 over charges of “helping a terrorist organization,” “espionage” and, “leaking secret state documents.”
In February, the Supreme Court ruled there was no evidence supporting charges of “espionage” and “helping a terrorist organization.” With this decision, his sentence was reduced to five years and 10 months in jail for “making secret government documents public.”
As the first CHP lawmaker to be given prison time, Berberoğlu is accused of providing daily Cumhuriyet with a video purporting to show National Intelligence Organization (MİT) trucks sending weapons to Syria.
Speaking to Turkish Press Council head Pınar Türenç, who had visited him in Istanbul’s Maltepe Prison in March, Berberoğlu stated he had appealed to Constitutional Court with an individual application and expects a positive response.
“How can I be a spy? It is so clear the claims against me are unfounded … I hope for a [positive] decision to come from the Constitutional Court, to which I have applied [for an appeal]. A situation that does not suit any article of law is being experienced right now. I have hope,” he said.
Arguing that Berberoğlu’s imprisonment was a “clear violation of rights,” Tezcan called out on the Constitutional Court to make a decision about the case.
“The Constitutional Court is the court that will assess a violations of rights. We call on it to perform its duty,” he said.
