Allegations of 'FETÖ investigation' against judges and prosecutors! 'When they give an unwanted ruling...'

Cumhuriyet columnist Barış Terkoğlu wrote that investigations opened against numerous judges and prosecutors are being kept in the archives to be used against them in the event that they give an unwanted ruling.

In his article titled "Let's talk about judges, not lieutenants," Terkoğlu stated, "Judicial members conducting terrorism trials have reached a point where they perform their duties under the threat of becoming a terror suspect at any moment. Future FETÖ investigations hang over the heads of hundreds of prosecutors and judges appointed to critical positions. Perhaps this is the reason why the judiciary can never seem to get its act together."

The relevant part of Terkoğlu's article is as follows:

"A judicial commission president, a chief prosecutor of a city of critical importance in the fight against terrorism, some high criminal court presidents, a Ministry of Justice inspector, an HSK (Council of Judges and Prosecutors) examining judge, a rapporteur for the court of jurisdictional disputes, a department head, a deputy chief prosecutor, an HSK inspector... A series of names serving at every level of the judiciary, from Istanbul to Şırnak, have been caught in the web of FETÖ inquiries and investigations. Evidence has been collected against them based on various factors, such as payphone records, exam algorithms, or statements in FETÖ investigations, and for some, graduation from FETÖ schools.

Since all investigations and inquiries are confidential and, of course, due to the right to the presumption of innocence, I am not writing the names of the judges and prosecutors.

However, there is a strange picture here. While inquiries are being conducted into the judges and prosecutors on the list as being 'affiliated with FETÖ' and evidence is being collected—with even the connections of some of their spouses being noted—and while the statements against them are being compiled into a file, they have simultaneously continued to be appointed to critical positions. Do you remember what happened to the judge who gave the acquittal decision in the Gezi trial after that decision? It is as if an archive has been created that can be opened whenever they give an unwanted ruling, with people saying, 'Look, they were FETÖ members.' Judicial members conducting terrorism trials have reached a point where they perform their duties under the threat of becoming a terror suspect at any moment.

Perhaps this is the reason why the judiciary can never seem to get its act together. The judiciary, which leads the polls as one of the most untrustworthy institutions in the country, is falling apart in the hands of those who hold it. It seems that while it once served FETÖ, it has found itself a new master after FETÖ. Future FETÖ investigations hang over the heads of hundreds of prosecutors and judges appointed to critical positions. I am sure that when they make decisions, they also experience the feeling of 'If I cross them, I'm done for.' In the end, it is the citizens who have stopped seeking justice in the courthouses who suffer."

News Source: 12punto