CHP Chair Özgür Özel has said he has proof that some prosecutors and lawyers have pressured defendants in the Istanbul Municipality lawsuits to admit to paying bribes to be released.
Speaking at a rally in Istanbul’s Tuzla district,the opposition chair likened the scheme to a “marketplace” for crime, saying the CHP would submit its evidence to the Council of Judges and Prosecutors.
Özel cited the case of lawyer Mehmet Yıldırım and of the prosecutor whom he had lashed out earlier for keeping on his desk a model of a white Renault 12 ‘Toros’ - a symbol of the unresolved murders of the 1990s while questioning Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.
Yıldırım, whose name was publicly revealed by Özel just a day earlier, was dramatically detained by Istanbul police on the orders of the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Journalist İsmail Saymaz said Yıldırım was detained on Aug. 7 in Antalya while allegedly trying to flee the country.
Özel said the CHP will provide the Council with a transcript of the lawyer's WhatsApp recording. The CHP will also lodge a complaint against the lawyer with the Union of Turkish Bar Associations and a complaint against the prosecutor with the Council.
Özel called on other political parties, especially the ruling AKP, as well as the present and previous ministers of justice, to show courage and dismantle the “gang” in the judicial system together.
Meanwhile, it has been revealed that Yıldırım has acted as a lawyer for many of the confessors in the municipality investigations.
Among the confessors is Naim Erol Özgüner, whose evidence led to the arrest of Kadriye Kasapoğlu, İmamoğlu’s Chief of Staff. They also include Cem Çelik, the financial advisor of missing businessman Murat Gülibrahimoğlu.
Meanwhile, Özel and İmamoğlu have notably refrained from responding to criticism by MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli. MHP Deputy Chair Feti Yıldız has repeatedly called for a fair and swift trial in the Istanbul Municipality probe, emphasizing the rule of law and also hosted jailed Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer’s lawyer.
