Complaint against 35 judges not processed: Deputy Minister also among them

A decision has been reached regarding the complaint filed with the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) against judicial members serving at the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court, where the Hrant Dink case was heard.

According to the report by Can Bursalı from Gazete Duvar, the complaint against 35 judges, including Deputy Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek, was not processed. The deputy minister responsible for the HSK First Chamber, which decided not to process the complaint, is Akın Gürlek himself.

In the Hrant Dink case, where 26 people were sentenced to prison, the complaint was filed on the grounds that hearing minutes were uploaded to the National Judiciary Informatics System (UYAP) late on 109 occasions. The 35 judges were accused of 'showing indifference and irregularity in duty, and persistently and continuously obstructing the right to access the court, thereby eliminating the right to a fair trial.'

MINUTES ENTERED THE SYSTEM AFTER 14 HEARINGS

Vural Ergül, the lawyer for former general Hamza Celepoğlu, who was also tried in the MIT Trucks case, stated in the complaint petition that the hearing minutes were uploaded to the UYAP system approximately 5 months late.

Ergül argued that his client could not effectively participate in the trial and could not access justice, citing the example that the minutes of the 41st session of the case held on April 10, 2017, were uploaded to the UYAP system 149 days later on September 5, 2017, during which time 14 more hearings had taken place.

COMPLAINT AGAINST 35 JUDGES

The decision regarding the complaint filed in June 2022 was issued approximately 16 months later, on October 4, 2023. The HSK First Chamber, for which Deputy Minister Gürlek is responsible, decided not to process the complaint against 35 judges, including names such as the current president of the court, Ali İhsan Horasan, and Canel Rüzgar, who was appointed as a member of the Court of Cassation after his tenure at the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court.

News Source: 12punto