Turkey: Ex-lawmaker's appeal sent to higher court

ISTANBUL

The appeal of a former lawmaker in Turkey on a verdict against his retrial for allegedly disclosing confidential information, was sent to a higher court on Thursday.

The lawyers of Enis Berberoglu, an ex-legislator for the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), appealed against an earlier ruling by a court in Istanbul that there was no need for him to stand trial again.

Istanbul's 15th High Criminal Court will now examine Berberoglu's appeal, which was forwarded by the lower court.

On Sept. 17, Turkey's Constitutional Court ruled that Berberoglu's right to be elected and engage in political activities and right to personal liberty and security had been violated during his trial.

The Constitutional Court sent a copy of its ruling to the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court for a retrial to eliminate the consequences of the violation.

The lower court on Tuesday ruled that Berberoglu, who in 2017 was sentenced to nearly six years in prison for leaking state secrets, did not need a new trial.

Interference in jurisdiction

In Tuesday's ruling, the Istanbul court said the Constitutional Court's duty was to identify the violation in the case and then guide the court on how to remove or stop the violation.

It argued that the Constitutional Court order for a retrial "is interference in the decision made within the jurisdiction of our court."

Berberoglu was found guilty of leaking footage to a journalist showing National Intelligence Organization (MIT) trucks being stopped en route to Syria in January 2014.

In that incident, gendarmerie officers affiliated with the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) stopped the MIT trucks on their way to Syria, despite government orders to let them pass.

FETO and its US-based leader, Fetullah Gulen, orchestrated a defeated coup in Turkey on July 15, 2016, leaving 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured, and is also accused of extensive infiltration of state institutions.