Court rules for house arrest for former justices in Gülen probe

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

Three former members of the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), to be tried over links to the movement of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, were ordered to be kept under house arrest and wear electronic bracelets, pending trial on Nov. 29. 

The ruling came after prosecutors objected to the suspects’ conditional release following their confessions related to the probe. 

HSYK deputy head Ahmet Hamsici and former HSYK members, Kerim Tosun and Mustafa Kemal Özçelik, were ordered to be kept under house arrest as Ankara prosecutors found their travel ban insufficient.  

As part of the probe into the Gülen movement, which is widely believed to be behind Turkey’s failed July 15 military coup attempt, Hamsici, Tosun and Özçelik were arrested on the charge of “being a member of an armed terror organization.” 

They were later released on probation upon their confessions made as part of effective remorse rights. 

Confessing to being a member of the Gülen movement, Hamsici had said in one of his testimonies that after the 2010 HSYK elections, the government of the time entered a “bargaining process” with Gülenists over securing members of the key judicial body.

Özçelik and Tosun also reportedly told investigators about the role of Gülen followers’ role during the 2010 and 2014 HSYK elections. 

Özçelik is one of the HSYK members who voted against the dismissal of prosecutor Murat İnam, a suspect in the Gülen prosecutions who recently opened a controversial investigation into the daily Cumhuriyet newspaper. Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ had expressed “regret” that İnam was appointed to the ongoing investigation into Cumhuriyet over alleged “terrorism” links. 

Meanwhile, the HSYK turned down the objection of over 3,000 judges and prosecutors dismissed from duty as part of the Fethullah Terror Organization (FETÖ) probes, leaving no hopes for the applicants to return. 

The decision on the 3,165 judges was published in the Official Gazette. 

The file on Seyfettin Yiğit, a prosecutor who committed suicide in prison seven days after a demand for re-investigation on his dismissal, has also been annulled.