Former CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu faces another lawsuit over his testimony
Turkish President Erdoğan filed another lawsuit against former main opposition CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu over the testimony the latter made in the hearing of the lawsuit filed against him for “insulting the president.”
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has filed a lawsuit against Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the previous leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), over his testimony in a hearing.
The previous lawsuit concerns Kılıçdaroğlu’s 2014-dated remarks calling Erdoğan “the head of thieves,” in which he is facing a political ban and an 11-year prison sentence.
In the testimony he gave at the court on Nov. 22, Kılıçdaroğlu said “Fortunately for me, I did not appear before the court on the charge of 'bribery' or 'treason'. I appeared before you, Your Honor, because I called a thief a ‘thief'.”
Erdoğan’s lawyer Hüseyin Aydın announced on Nov. 25 that they filed a lawsuit against Kılıçdaroğlu, demanding to be paid one million liras ($14,432) in compensation for non-pecuniary damages.
“Immediately after the coup attempt in 2016, our President withdrew all lawsuits against Kılıçdaroğlu ‘with the hope and will to permanently establish minimum courtesy in our political life.’ after 8 years, it has been understood that Kılıçdaroğlu has not made a single step forward in terms of minimum political courtesy, on the contrary, rudeness and ugly language have turned into a pattern of behavior,” Aydın said in a social media statement.
He also argued that Erdoğan previously withdrew his complaint in the lawsuit Kılıçdaroğlu is being tried, “and therefore did not demand punishment and a political ban,”
“The personal rights of our President were severely violated by abusing the right of defense” during Kılıçdaroğlu’s testimony, Aydın noted.