Prison time sought for lawyers who took Sedat Peker's allegations to the prosecutor's office: Accused of insulting the President

The Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has prepared an indictment against lawyers Pınar Akbina Karaman, Ali Serdar Çıngı, and Fettah Ayhan Erkan, who are members of the People's Liberation Party (HKP).

The basis for the indictment was the criminal complaint filed by the lawyers, in which they brought the allegations made on social media in 2021 by Sedat Peker—who is subject to an arrest warrant on charges of being an organized crime leader—to the prosecutor's office.

THEY HAD FILED A CRIMINAL COMPLAINT

In the petition submitted by the lawyers to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on July 12, 2021, reference was made to the messages Sedat Peker published on social media, as well as news reports and television broadcasts supporting these allegations.

The petition included a criminal complaint against President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the then-Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu, former Minister of Treasury and Finance Berat Albayrak, AKP Istanbul Provincial Youth Branch President Osman Tomakin, Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum President Taha Ayhan, former AKP Esenyurt Youth Branch President Abdülsebur Soğanlı, Ministry of Interior personnel Ahmet Onay, and “other persons whose names could not be identified.”

According to the report by Ufuk Sepetçi from Cumhuriyet, the petition conveyed Peker's allegations that “after July 15, Kalashnikov-brand weapons not registered in the state inventory were distributed to AKP youth branches.” It was further stated that this situation pointed to an “illegal organization within the state” and that public prosecutors were obligated to launch an investigation ex officio.

LAWYERS' PETITION DEEMED INSULT TO THE PRESIDENT

The Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, however, stated that the expressions directed at President Erdoğan in the petitions constituted the crime of “insulting the President” under Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). The indictment requests that the three lawyers be sentenced to up to 4 years in prison.

News Source: 12punto