Assault in the barracks... When the commanders go to the Chief Public Prosecutor!..

In a place where those tasked with serving the country and the nation beat the nation black and blue every day, or where the judiciary has become an instrument for some, such an incident is, of course, considered quite simple, ordinary, and routine, but let us write about it anyway.

The scene of the incident is a brigade in our eastern provinces.

According to the allegations, on November 3, at 09:35, a petty officer first class started a vehicle in the garage at the barracks. It turns out that the brigade commander, whose office was near the garage, was very disturbed by the sound of the vehicle. He came to the garage in a rage; not only did he insult the petty officer by calling him, "You moron, you idiot. Didn't I say the vehicle shouldn't be started?" but he also slapped him repeatedly and choked him.

At that moment, the cameras were recording. Furthermore, the petty officer obtained a medical report for the assault.

Two days after the incident, when the brigade commander learned that the petty officer would file a complaint against him, he threatened him, saying, "Complain about me wherever you want. If you go to the prosecutor, I will complain about you to the Chief Public Prosecutor."

What do you think happened one day after this conversation?

The petty officer learned that the commander of the corps to which the brigade is attached had arrived there and that they had gone to the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office together.

Panicked, the petty officer shared that visit to the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office with his lawyer, fearing that no administrative or judicial investigation would be conducted into the brigade commander who assaulted him, and moreover, that this situation would result in consequences against him.

His lawyer, İbrahim Yılmaz, submitted a petition to the Ministry of National Defense on the same day, requesting that the camera recordings be secured before they were deleted, that witnesses to the incident be identified and their statements taken without being subjected to any suggestion, guidance, or pressure, and that an administrative investigation be launched into the brigade commander.

In his petition, Lawyer Yılmaz also mentioned the visit of the brigade commander and the corps commander to the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

Upon this, the Ministry of National Defense launched an administrative investigation into the brigade commander, but even though 45 days have passed, they have not provided any information to the complainants.

THE PENALTY FOR "NOT BEING DISCREET"

Lawyer İbrahim Yılmaz wrote a second petition to the Ministry of National Defense on December 31. The reason?

Because in the meantime, an interesting development had occurred; the petty officer's defense was taken on the grounds that he had committed the disciplinary offense of "not being discreet" because he shared the information about that visit to the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office with his lawyer, and he was given a penalty of "continuing service with partial duty for one day," with no path for judicial appeal.

In his second petition, while objecting to this penalty given to his client, Lawyer Yılmaz emphasized the following in summary:

"The article on 'not being discreet,' which is the basis for the penalty, stipulates 'the disclosure of information that is not secret regarding one's duty but should not be disclosed in a way that unauthorized persons can learn it.' The person referred to as an 'unauthorized person' is the lawyer to whom he gave power of attorney to protect his rights and conduct his defense. The fact that the client is punished for a disciplinary offense due to this complaint, which was not shared with anyone other than your Ministry, shows that the penalty was imposed arbitrarily, not for the public interest, but due to personal hostility. Because, although the company commander, who is the first disciplinary superior, gave the penalty, he did not do it on his own initiative, but according to the result of the investigation report of the committee appointed by the complained-about brigade commander and the corps commander who went to the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office with him. Punishing a person for matters they discussed with their lawyer is a situation that would not be encountered even in tribal states. It is understood that if they could, they would even try to punish us as lawyers."

In his petition, Lawyer Yılmaz, who also criticized the fact that no administrative or judicial action had been initiated against the brigade commander even though 45 days had passed while the petty officer seeking his rights was being punished in this way, stated, "What should really be focused on is the fact that the petty officer was assaulted and subjected to insults and threats," and noted that the brigade commander and other responsible parties, in addition to these crimes, committed the crime of "abusing the influence of public office in other ways."

INVESTIGATION PERMISSION FOR "ASSAULT"

The result?

Since it was seen in the camera recordings, which were secured, that the petty officer was assaulted, the Ministry of National Defense granted permission for an investigation into the brigade commander for "assault," while it did not grant permission for an investigation into the "insult and threat" charges on the grounds that "no material evidence of a nature and sufficiency to require the granting of investigation permission regarding the occurrence of the alleged acts, other than contradictory witness statements, could be reached."

Lawyer İbrahim Yılmaz this time applied to the Council of State with a request to lift the investigation permission that was not granted for the "insult and threat" charges and explained why this is contrary to law, legislation, and the state of evidence as follows:

"The acts of insult and threat by the person under investigation against the victim, who is his subordinate, are not crimes subject to investigation permission. Because while the Military Penal Code regulates a subordinate insulting and threatening a superior, a superior insulting and threatening a subordinate falls under the scope of the Turkish Penal Code, and investigation and prosecution must be conducted according to this law. Furthermore, according to the Military Penal Code, the investigation of military crimes committed by military personnel is subject to permission. Naturally, insult and threat are not military crimes. For this reason, the Ministry of National Defense's prevention of the investigation of the brigade commander's actions by not granting investigation permission is contrary to the Military Penal Code. Although it was confirmed by witness statements that the brigade commander said to the petty officer, 'You moron, you idiot, I will kill you,' this investigation permission was not granted because the person under investigation has the status of a general."

It is unknown whether the Council of State will overturn that decision of the Ministry of National Defense; however, let us state that if a lawsuit is filed as a result of the assault investigation, the brigade commander will be tried at the Court of Cassation.

Who knows what else is happening that we do not hear or see in our neglected country, which is drowning in a storm of agendas!..