On Saturday's legal scandal


On Saturday evening, it was overtly understood once again that there is a shadowy group called the "parallel structure" within the judiciary, and that the members of this structure, which is like the Unification Church in some ways, act in accordance with a chain of internal command and strive to obstruct the judicial system by going beyond laws and their authorities. What was experienced that evening was quite interesting.The police officers and press members who are allegedly members of this structure and are kept in detention on charges of conducting illegal wiretapping and conspiracy, were discharged by a decision from an unauthorized judge on Saturday evening. The intention was to release 75 detainees unlawfully in an operation that was reminiscent of a midnight raid. Hundreds of people gathered in front of the prison out of the blue and the media outlets of this structure began live broadcasts of the incidents. Figuratively speaking, Turkey watched an illegal demonstration. Let us revisit those events, all of which were illegal.Although arrest and discharge warrants belong to the Criminal Court of Peace, lawyers who knew that they could not receive a discharge verdict from the judges of that court, appealed to the 29th Criminal Court of First Instance. They wanted the denial of the judges of the Criminal Court of Peace and demanded a release order, but they did not request it from the Criminal Court of Peace, which is authorized to do this. The chief judge of the 29th Criminal Court of the First Instance, to which they appealed, Metin Özçelik, is known for his affiliation with the structure.Before the court investigated the case files, Özçelik approved the demand for the denial of judges and instructed the 32nd Criminal Court of First Instance to deal with release requests. Without looking into the files, this court quickly accepted the request without any hesitation. However, this illegal decision did not reach the prison because the National Judiciary Informatics System (UYAP) was closed. But even this was not enough to stop the judge. He delivered the judgment to lawyers by hand and ordered them to go to the prison with it, violating laws once again. However, it is forbidden to send official correspondence to prisons in this way.Meanwhile, before the execution of the decision was sent to the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, media and lawyers were informed of the happenings and masses gathered in front of the prison, creating a chaotic scene.However, there is no such procedure like the collective denial of judges. Moreover, a matter that is within the authority of the Criminal Court of Peace cannot be transferred to the Criminal Court of First Instance. To cut a long story short, this gang within the judiciary tried to provoke a legal scandal at its core.Following all this, the Attorney General's Office came into play and declared the decision of the 32th Criminal Court of First Instance null and void, appointing the 10th Criminal Court of Peace to review the case. This court ruled that the decision was legally impossible and adjudicated the continuation of the detention of those who were ordered released.Certainly, we do not want anyone to be in prison and wish that imprisonment pending trial was an exceptional practice in Turkey. However, coming out of prison cannot be done in order to mobilize their gang in the judiciary in an illegal way, as they have always done. This is like digging a tunnel to escape from prison and cannot be tolerated in a state of law, even at the hands of judges.