MHP files censor motion against Justice Minister Bozdağ

ANKARA

The MHP says that 'virtual and legal interventions' had been openly conducted throughout the investigation process. AA photo

The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has filed a censure motion against Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ, accusing him of intervening in certain investigations via his political clout in order to get results in favor of certain suspects.

In the motion signed and filed by deputy parliamentary group chairs Oktay Vural and Yusuf Halaçoğlu on Feb. 27, the MHP stressed that former ministers, their relatives, bureaucrats and businesspeople were involved in a huge corruption and bribery probe that broke out Dec. 17, which Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ has sought to suppress.

It also mentioned that a series of audio recordings implicating the involvement of Erdoğan himself and his immediate family in the scandal strengthened claims that the corruption and bribery cases are larger than assumed.

“Bozdağ, who took office Dec. 25, 2013, put pressure on law enforcement forces and judiciary members who were conducting the investigation from the beginning; got them suspended; intervened in the investigations by using his clout on law enforcement forces and judiciary members who replaced the suspended ones; influenced judicial offices in order to get rulings in favor of some suspects; kept hold of summaries of proceedings – which were arranged against four ministers by prosecutors – back for review for a long time in order not to fulfill the requirements of those proceedings; and consecutively sent back the proceedings, thus providing an opportunity for the suspects to black out evidence,” the motion stated. 

The MHP emphasized that “virtual and legal interventions” had been openly conducted throughout the investigation process, which is against the principle of rule of law.

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) had already announced on Feb. 6 that it would file a censure motion against Bozdağ for committing a constitutional crime by not sending the summaries of proceedings regarding four former Cabinet members to Parliament.

However, CHP officials told the Hürriyet Daily News that it had decided to wait before going ahead with the move. They said the party was closely following the recent process through which tape recordings in the investigation were revealed and would later file a censor motion against Bozdağ.