Graft prosecutor Zekeriya Öz rejects relocation, takes annual leave

ISTANBUL

Zekeriya Öz was removed from his post of Istanbul deputy chief prosecutor after he opened a graft investigation. AA Photo

Prosecutor Zekeriya Öz, who recently claimed that he was threatened by the prime minister to drop his investigation into official corruption, rejected his relocation to a minor post on Jan. 13.

Öz was removed from his post of Istanbul deputy chief prosecutor after he opened a graft investigation that included the sons of three former Cabinet members.

Last week, he claimed that he was “threatened” to stop the investigation by two members of the high judiciary sent by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Erdoğan rejected the accusations as slander while the two judges, identified in Internet reports as Chief Ombudsman Nihat Ömeroğlu and senior justice İsmail Rüştü Cirit, also dismissed the claims.

Öz was then reassigned by the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) as the deputy chief public prosecutor of Istanbul’s Bakırköy district.

He has reportedly taken his annual leave and will not start in his new position until after his formal objection is reviewed.