Criminal complaint against Peker, Soylu, Ağar, Yıldırım

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The İzmir Bar Association has released a written statement on its website and announced that it has filed a criminal complaint against mafia boss Sedat Peker and the people that he has accused in his videos.

Accused of leading a criminal organization and currently abroad, Sedat Peker posted seven videos about the 'state-mafia relations' in Turkey from May 2 to May 23, 2021, making a series of serious allegations about Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu, former Minister of Interior Mehmet Ağar, his son and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Elazığ MP Tolga Ağar and former Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım's son Erkan Yıldırım.

Applying to the prosecutor's office within this context, the İzmir Bar Association has filed a criminal complaint against the related people as well as the ones to be identified after the videos are examined.

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The Bar has also demanded the dismissal of Süleyman Soylu: "For the good of the investigation, considering that Süleyman Soylu, who stands at the center of the allegations, is superior to the persons who will conduct the investigation as a superior, he needs to be dismissed from the duty as the Minister of Interior immediately and the investigation needs to start quickly."

'As required by the rule of law'

The statement of the İzmir Bar Association has indicated that "Sedat Peker's speeches contain very important confessions regarding the relations between the state and the mafia." The Bar has briefly said:

"It is required by the claim of being a rule of law that these confessions and statements are seriously addressed and examined by the independent judiciary. However, as we have been sadly following, even though the related statements have been watched millions of times for almost a month now and the sides of the issue have repeatedly made statements, there has been no investigation launched, as far as our Bar Association has been informed.

"According to the 2nd article of the Constitution, the prerequisite for being a rule of law is that the powers of legislative, executive and judiciary are completely separate and that the judiciary acts independently.

"The failure to investigate the acts that concern the majority of society and that aim to delegate the power to a narrow criminal organization and to derive benefits out of this will show that the related Constitutional features have been completely eliminated and it will lead to an undeniable responsibility on the part of the members of the judiciary who cannot fulfil the requirements of their duty even in the current dirty picture towards our citizens, on behalf of whom they exercise the independent judicial authority.

"The Republic of Turkey has to resolve the related process by carrying out an efficient and effective investigation. The contrary will lead the society to face the reality of a country where the law has been completely eliminated and the words of powerful people and the ones who are involved in illegal affairs are considered to be valid. It is totally unacceptable."

Accordingly, the İzmir Bar Association has filed a criminal complaint, requesting an immediate investigation into the related allegations of "extrajudicial relations between the representatives of the executive and legislative and leaders of criminal organizations as well as the crimes of drug dealing, murder, sexual assault, plunder and the like." (AS/SD)