Investigation Into all Party Assembly Members for ‘Defaming the President’
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It came out that an investigation had been launched into all 60 members the party assembly of Republican People's Party (CHP) including its Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for "defaming the President".
The subject of the investigation is a statement made by the party assembly on November 6, 2016, that was issued upon the arrests of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) MPs and the executives and employees of Cumhuriyet daily.
Criminal complaint by both Erdoğan and AKP
According to the report in Hürriyet daily, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a criminal complaint to Ankara Public Chief Prosecutor's Office against CHP Chair Kılıçdaroğlu and the party assembly members for "defaming the President" due to a statement on November 6, 2016.
Referring to the same statement, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) Head Office has made a criminal complaint as well under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) regulating the crime of "insulting the Turkish Nation, State of Republic of Turkey, the institutions and organs of the state".
Summary of proceedings sent to Parliament
The summary of proceedings drafted as a part of the investigation of the party assembly members, accusing them of "defaming the President," has been sent to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM).
The investigations of the party assembly members who are not MPs continue. Their cases have been separated from the cases of the MPs.
CHP İstanbul MP İlhan Cihaner, commenting on the summary of proceedings, said "for the first time, an investigation has been launched into all the assembly members of a party".
Authorization for investigation pending, parliamentary immunity might be lifted
An authorization by the Ministry of Justice is pending regarding the investigation to be launched under the Article 301 of the TCK.
If the parliamentary immunities of the MPs were to be lifted, all party assembly members including the party chair Kılıçdaroğlu could stand trial.
CHP's statement
At the end of a 6.5-hour meeting on November 6, 2016, CHP Party Assembly issued a statement and said that the arrests of the HDP MPs was a violation of the Constitution and its case law, and urged the release of all arrested journalist.
Some topics criticized in the statement were the following:
*The judicial system falling under the influence of politics.
*Violations of principles of a democratic, secular, social state of law.
*Oppressive measures taken by the Government on the pretext of the July 15 coup attempt in 2016 and the fight against "FETÖ - Fethullahist Terrorist Organization". (EA/DG)
