The 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation has once again issued a scandalous decision in the case of arrested TİP MP Can Atalay. Arguing that the Constitutional Court’s decision has no legal value, the Court of Cassation ruled that the Constitutional Court’s decision should not be followed.
The 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation decided not to comply with the Constitutional Court’s (AYM) second violation decision regarding Can Atalay of the Turkish Workers’ Party (TİP).
In the scandalous decision, it was ruled that the Constitutional Court’s second violation verdict had no legal value and therefore the verdict should not be complied with.
The Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court had sent the file to the 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation after evaluating the second violation decision of the Constitutional Court against Atalay, a convict in the Gezi Park trial, on the grounds that it was not related to the decision taken by the local court.
The Court of Cassation, which announced its decision on the file, once again signed a scandalous decision and decided not to comply with the Constitutional Court’s decision.
BACKGROUND OF THE CASE
Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court sentenced Can Atalay to 18 years in prison for “aiding the attempt to overthrow the government of the Republic of Turkey” and ordered his arrest on this charge.
The Istanbul Regional Court of Appeals had found the local court’s decision to be in accordance with the law.
In the 28th Parliamentary Elections, Can Atalay’s lawyers, who was elected as Hatay MP from TİP, applied to the Court of Cassation with the demand that “the trial against him be suspended and he be released due to his client’s election as an MP”.
While the process continued after the application, the 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation upheld the 18-year prison sentence given to Can Atalay in the Gezi Park case.
After the Court of Cassation rejected the request, Atalay filed an individual application to the Constitutional Court, which ruled that his rights to “election and political activity” and “personal liberty and security” had been violated and that Atalay should be retried and released.
The file sent by the Constitutional Court requesting Atalay’s retrial and release was forwarded to the 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation without the local court’s decision, and the criminal chamber in question did not comply with the violation decision.
SECOND VIOLATION DECISION OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
Can Atalay’s lawyers had filed an individual application for the second time due to the non-compliance with the violation decision of the Constitutional Court.
In the second application, the Constitutional Court ruled that Atalay’s rights to “election and political activity”, “personal liberty and security” and “individual application” were violated.
Concluding that “the right to individual application provided in Article 148 of the Constitution was violated by not implementing the previous violation decision”, the Constitutional Court ruled that the decision be sent to the relevant court in order to eliminate the consequences of the violation.