AKP, Erdoğan 'have been immune from prosecution since 2010'

President Erdoğan and his ruling AKP have become immune from prosecution following the 2010 referendum, according to a report prepared by CHP deputy Tekin Bingöl. "The judiciary can't touch the AKP anymore," he said.

Wednesday April 14 2021 01:56 pm

Duvar English

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have become immune from prosecution following the 2010 constitutional referendum, according to a report prepared by main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Ankara deputy Tekin Bingöl.

The report focusing on the judiciary and immunity of AKP members said that no summary of proceedings can currently be prepared against government officials.

"The judiciary can't touch the AKP anymore," Bingöl said, the daily Cumhuriyet reported on April 14.

"Following the 2010 referendum, we started to see that summary of proceedings are not prepared and the fate of the already existing ones is unknown. We have come to a point from a judiciary that was able to prepare summary of proceedings against the president to a judicial system that launches insult probes whenever Erdoğan's name is mentioned," he noted.

There are a total of 1,290 summary of proceedings waiting in parliament for the removal of deputies' immunities, out of which 14 are on AKP lawmakers and two on its nationalist allies. On the other hand, a total of 911 summary of proceedings were prepared against pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) deputies and 240 against those of the CHP.

According to Bingöl, some 383 summary of proceedings were prepared against AKP deputies prior to the 2010 referendum.

"The number dramatically decreased after 2010. Did the AKP give up on acts that are considered crimes? No. The stance of the judiciary has changed," he said.