Özgür Özel calls on Erdoğan following Minister Gürlek's 'live broadcast' statement: 'Whoever breaks their word is a coward'

Özel reacted to the words of Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek, who said, "Mr. Ekrem used to say that trials should be broadcast live on screens.

Does Mr. Ekrem still stand behind those words?"

Addressing President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Özel stated, "My interlocutor here is not that Minister of Justice. I am speaking to Erdoğan, who appointed him. If this Minister of Justice has any authority, and if your past words have any authority, I challenge you: broadcast the court proceedings live. Whoever breaks their word is a coward."

Özel said the following:

"Someone who was a judge in the past, whose decisions were almost all overturned by the Constitutional Court, who then became a Deputy Minister, went from politics back to being a Chief Public Prosecutor, and was then rewarded with the Ministry of Justice after this judicial murder, comes out yesterday and says, 'Well, the informants are talking, and Mayor Ekrem is getting angry. I wonder? At one time they were saying, "Let it be broadcast live." Would they still want that now?' My interlocutor here is not that Minister of Justice. I am speaking to Erdoğan, who appointed him. If this Minister of Justice has any authority, and if your past words have any authority, I challenge you: broadcast the court proceedings live. Whoever breaks their word is a coward.

"A person should have some shame"

A person should have some shame. Hundreds of people will speak and listen. You will restrict the right to defense, you will not give the floor. You will do what is not even done in dictatorships and say, 'Limited time for the defendant to defend themselves.' 150 incidents will be discussed, and when they want to defend themselves one by one, you will silence them. They will print a book, you will not let it be distributed, you will stop it, you will issue a seizure order. Then, on the first day, when an informant asks for forgiveness and goes back on their word, your prosecutor will intervene. You will scare the other defendants by saying, 'Make an arrest immediately.' Then, you will try to create a perception as if those slanders were true by having all the columnists write about three or five people who, having had their property and assets seized, clung to lies in the hope of getting their property back and saving their lives and assets.

"These honest cadres of the Yeni Party will sooner or later achieve justice and power"

Everything that was talked about on television for 1.5 years turned out to be a lie. Almost none of it appeared in the indictment. There is an answer to everything that has come up, but they neither allow a defense to be made nor do they allow the book to be distributed. And then he comes out and says, 'I wonder if he still wants a live broadcast?' Whoever doesn't want it is a coward. Whoever prevents this is also a coward, a coward, a coward. We are openly challenging you, openly.

I challenge you. Mr. Erdoğan, the Minister of Justice you appointed says, 'Come on, let's broadcast it live.' Mr. Bahçeli had said, 'Let it be broadcast live.' You had said, 'If Bahçeli says so, it is correct.' We want to answer questions in front of this nation, prove our innocence, and collapse the perception operation you have conducted against this nation. We have the heart for this; if you have the heart, let's call the Parliament to an emergency meeting. Two laws...

First, let us all together give the families of martyrs and veterans what they deserve. Two, let us immediately, right now, make the live broadcast a law. Let the nation see; who is a liar, who is a slanderer, who has not reached out for this nation's property, assets, and public treasury, let them see who is honest. These honest cadres of the Yeni Party, with this self-confidence, will sooner or later achieve justice, will achieve power, and will make this nation smile."

News Source: 12punto