Turkish prosecutors are seeking prison sentences of up to 50 years for 22 former judges and prosecutors accused of ordering unlawful detentions in a case involving a far-left militant group, the pro-government Sabah daily reported.
An indictment accepted by a court in İstanbul’s Bakırköy district accuses the former judicial officials of abusing their public office to deprive people of their liberty. They face sentences ranging from 10 to 50 years.
The charges concern decisions made between 2009 and 2012 during proceedings involving Revolutionary Headquarters, known in Turkish as Devrimci Karargah. Prosecutors allege that the defendants ordered or maintained detention despite insufficient evidence and acted in line with the objectives of the faith-based Gülen movement.
The new prosecution followed compensation cases brought by five former defendants who were acquitted of membership in the group. According to Sabah, prosecutors investigated the former judges and prosecutors after the Treasury paid compensation for the detentions, arguing that the payments constituted a financial loss to the state.
Turkey’s Council of Judges and Prosecutors authorized their prosecution in October 2024. All 22 were previously dismissed over alleged Gülen links.
The original proceedings took place while Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, then prime minister, and the Gülen movement were political allies. Their relationship later deteriorated, culminating in an open confrontation over corruption investigations in December 2013 that implicated members of Erdoğan’s family and inner circle.
Former police chief Hanefi Avcı was among the most prominent people prosecuted in the Revolutionary Headquarters case. He was detained in September 2010 shortly after publishing a book alleging that Gülen followers had gained significant influence within the police and judiciary.
Erdoğan, then prime minister and a political ally of the Gülen movement, dismissed Avcı’s allegations before his detention. According to a September 2010 article by journalist Müyesser Yıldız, Erdoğan said he had not read the book and saw no need to dwell on its claims.
His ministers also criticized Avcı: Then-interior minister Beşir Atalay questioned the ethics of his actions, while then-industry and trade minister Nihat Ergün said the allegations lacked concrete supporting evidence.
Avcı was sentenced in 2013 to more than 15 years in prison on several charges, including assisting Revolutionary Headquarters. He spent nearly four years in custody before being released in June 2014 following a Constitutional Court ruling that the courts had provided insufficient grounds for his continued detention. He was acquitted of assisting the group in May 2017.
Erdoğan rejected the December 2013 corruption investigations as a conspiracy against his government. Turkey designated the Gülen movement as a terrorist organization in May 2016.
Following a failed coup in July 2016, which Erdoğan blamed on the movement, his government expanded its crackdown on alleged supporters. The movement, inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, denies involvement in the coup or any terrorist activity.
More than 4,000 judges and prosecutors were dismissed in the post-coup purge over alleged links to the movement.
The post Turkey seeks up to 50 years for 22 former judges, prosecutors over alleged ‘unlawful’ detentions appeared first on Turkish Minute.