CHP’s Berberoğlu appeals to top court for retrial

ANKARA

Lawyers for Enis Berberoğlu, an ex-legislator for the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), applied to the Constitutional Court on Oct. 26 for his retrial after two first instance courts rejected his appeals.

CHP Spokesperson Faik Öztrak has called on Constitutional Court to examine the case in a way that the “judicial hierarchy” would not be destroyed.

“This shall not become a way,” he said at a press conference referring to the local courts’ objections to the constitutional court ruling.

“The Constitutional Court should take up a position against this unlawfulness,” Öztrak said.

On Oct. 23, Istanbul’s 15th High Criminal Court denied Berberoglu’s appeal for a retrial, which was also earlier rejected by Istanbul’s 14th High Criminal Court.

The High Court has rejected the appeal “decreeing as it is not necessitated.” It has also decided that Berberoğlu may submit a request for further action on the decision of Turkey’s Constitutional Court to Istanbul’s second Criminal Division of the Regional Court of Justice.

Turkey’s Constitutional Court ruled on Sept. 17 that Berberoğlu’s right to be elected and engage in political activities and right to personal liberty and security was violated during his trial.

The Constitutional Court ruled for a violation of rights and a retrial for Berberoğlu on the grounds that he had been dismissed from deputyship with a final sentence of five years and 10 months before his application was concluded.

Berberoğlu had initially been sentenced to 25 years in prison on espionage charges for providing daily Cumhuriyet with a video purporting to show Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) trucking weapons into Syria.

Berberoğlu was re-elected as the deputy in the June 24, 2018 elections. He was released from prison in late 2018 after 15-month imprisonment.

On June 4, the Turkish Parliament stripped Berberoğlu of his deputyship