A member of the Judges and Prosecutors Supreme Council is suing lawyer Taylan Tanay and journalist Ertugrul Kurkcu, saying his "rights were attacked" in a July 2010 article.
(BIANET/IFEX) – On 27 January 2011, a trial against Taylan Tanay, of the Contemporary Lawyers Association (CHD), and BIANET website co-ordinator Ertugrul Kurkcu continued before the Ankara 25th Criminal Court of First Instance. The court decided to postpone the case in order to resolve deficiencies in the case file.
Ali Suat Ertosun, a member of the Judges and Prosecutors Supreme Council (HSYK) and the former general manager of Prisons and Arrest Stations, filed a TL15,000 (approx. €7,000) compensation claim against the lawyer and journalist, alleging that his personal rights had been attacked. The charges stem from an article entitled “Ali Suat Ertosun’s place is not on the HSYK, but rather in the dock”, published on 31 July 2010.
Judge Sule Yildiz presided over the 27 January 2011 hearing. Both the plaintiff’s and the defence lawyers were present.
Plaintiff lawyer Rabia Balkanli demanded a ruling on the case, while the defence lawyers requested additional time to add missing documents to the case file. Tanay’s lawyer furthermore requested that the court wait for information relating to a file from the Bakirkoy 13th High Criminal Court. The next hearing was scheduled for 10 March at 10:10 a.m.
In addition, Ertosun made journalist Umur Talu, of the “Haberturk” newspaper, publish a retraction in his 27 January column, based on previous articles about the HSYK member. The retraction was a response to a number of articles written by Talu. The articles made rereference to Ertosun and the “Return to Life Operation” carried out during his time as Prisons and Arrest Stations general manager in December 2000. The retraction said that the articles contained “untrue allegations and comments that deceived the public and constituted a personal insult.”
