Justice Minister Tunç responds to Leyla Zana indictment: 'Responsibility lies with the judiciary'

Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç has spoken regarding the indictments filed against former Ağrı MP Leyla Zana, which include charges of "making terrorist organization propaganda" due to speeches she made while in office and "receiving awards from the enemy" due to awards she received from international organizations.

According to a report by Namık Durukan from T24, HEDEP Diyarbakır MP Cengiz Çandar submitted a parliamentary question to Justice Minister Tunç regarding the ongoing trial at the Ankara 27th High Criminal Court. While describing the indictment as a "legal scandal," Çandar pointed out that Leyla Zana's speeches in Kurdish, her commemoration of former HEDEP MP Orhan Doğan, and her commemoration of HEP Diyarbakır Provincial Chair Vedat Aydın, who lost his life in an unsolved attack in 1991, were being evaluated as "terrorist organization propaganda." He also questioned which of the awards Zana received in the international arena for peace and human rights constituted the crime of "receiving awards from the enemy" under Article 325/1 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).

Çandar asked Tunç questions such as, "Do you intend to launch an investigation into whether there is political pressure on members of the judiciary? Is it considered a crime for Kurdish MPs to speak in their mother tongue? If Leyla Zana's speeches between 2014 and 2015 are considered a crime, what is the justification for this, and why has such a long time passed? Among the awards given to Leyla Zana, who is the enemy with whom Turkey is at war?" Additionally, Çandar asked Tunç if he had read Kafka's novel "The Trial".

DID NOT RESPOND TO WHO THE ENEMY ORGANIZATIONS ARE

In his responses, Tunç emphasized that no reports or complaints had been received by the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) regarding political pressure on the judiciary. However, he did not answer questions such as those regarding speeches made by Kurdish politicians in their mother tongue and who Turkey's "enemy" organizations are. Tunç cited the Rules of Procedure of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM), stating that "parliamentary questions cannot contain personal opinions, cannot include questions related to personal matters, and cannot be questions that could be learned from another source."

PROCEDURAL CONFIDENTIALITY

In the responses provided by Tunç, it was noted that Zana's trial is ongoing, and therefore questions regarding the accusations in the indictment were not answered. Tunç stated that procedural confidentiality applies during the investigation phase, provided that the rights of the defense are not violated. Furthermore, expressing that a public prosecutor must immediately begin an investigation upon the impression that a crime has been committed, Tunç emphasized that the responsibility lies with the judiciary.

News Source: 12punto