First reactions to the release decisions in the IMM case: CHP figures share one after another

An interim decision was announced at the hearing held for the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) case.

The court ordered the release of 18 of the 107 detained defendants, while ruling for the continued detention of 89 people.

Following the decision, CHP figures made consecutive statements, both evaluating the releases and reacting to the continuation of the detentions.

Here are the first statements from CHP figures…

"WAS IT NECESSARY FOR THEM TO REMAIN IN PRISON?"

CHP Deputy Chairman Gökan Zeybek: “Against a collapsed indictment, people are seeking JUSTICE until the middle of the night!

Truth will find its place sooner or later.

I convey my heartfelt best wishes to those who were released.

Every day and every hour stolen is a great loss and shame written into the legal record of this country.

Our Presidential Candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu and all our fellow travelers will continue our struggle until they are free.”

CHP Istanbul Provincial Chair Özgür Çelik: “Our joy is bittersweet, our hope is alive. Only a very few of the people who should not have been detained for even a single day will regain their freedom. The habit of turning the measure of detention into punishment has once again trampled on the law.

A release decision was issued for our 18 fellow travelers who have been unjustly detained for a year. They will soon reunite with their families and loved ones.

We will welcome and embrace them at our solidarity center in Silivri.

We will continue our struggle for justice and freedom with all our determination until our presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu and all our friends are free.

We will save every one of our fellow travelers from the dungeons, and together we will save our country from the grip of injustice.

Justice will prevail sooner or later, our beautiful Turkey will win.”

Ankara MP Umut Akdoğan: There is no era that does not end, no cycle that does not turn…

What did the poet say?

Fear does not profit those who have set out on the path once

You are inside a love, you will live

What does it matter if insects surround you on all four sides

Cling tightly to the soil, you will sprout…”

CHP Trabzon MP Sibel Suiçmez: “We are happy for our friends who were granted release and for our families who will reunite with their loved ones.

We have always said it and we will say it tirelessly:

Our President Ekrem, our mayors, and our fellow travelers are innocent. This case is political. The indictment is empty.

We will continue the struggle until our last fellow traveler is free.

We will never give up.

We will never surrender.”

CHP Istanbul MP Yunus Emre: “The interim decision given in the IMM case clearly shows that the problem is not just a matter of a few releases.

The real problem is that the judiciary cannot be removed from the shadow of politics; that detention is turned into a method of punishment rather than a measure.

Justice must be based on universal legal principles, not arbitrariness.

This country does not deserve a judicial order shaped by political interventions.”

CHP Group Deputy Chairman Gökhan Günaydın: “18 release decisions came in the IMM case. This number is above the 7 requested by the prosecution.

Now the current questions are:

1-Was it necessary for these people to remain in prison for all this time?

2-Would public order have been disrupted if it had been decided that those returning to prison tonight be tried without detention?”

CHP Şanlıurfa MP Mahmut Tanal: “In the IMM case; 107 detainees, 18 releases. 89 people are still in prison.

This is not justice, it is a limited correction.

Detention is the exception.

If 89 people are inside, it means the problem continues.

Justice cannot be piecemeal.

This picture cannot be called justice.”

Ankara MP Gamze Şengel Taşcıer: “For more than almost a year, 18 of our friends had been imprisoned despite there being no concrete evidence against them.

A release decision was just issued for them.

Freedom is not just about being able to walk out of a prison door.

True freedom is a system where no one fears being punished for their thoughts, identity, or political stance.

When it is forgotten that detention is the exception and freedom is the rule; the law loses its capacity to produce justice and turns into a tool.

At that point, the issue ceases to be the freedom of a few people and becomes a matter of a society's conscience.

When courthouses begin to work according to the expectations of the government, the rule of law gives way to the law of the powerful.

That is when what needs to be done is not to surrender to fear; it is to defend the truth.

If there is no justice for one person, there is no justice for anyone.”

News Source: 12punto