Turkish chief prosecutor’s guard and driver batter lawyer in front of courthouse after quarrel

Duvar English

İskenderun Chief Public Prosecutor Muhammet Emin Ünalan’s bodyguard and driver on Nov. 30 battered Bülent Akbay after a quarrel, who is the lawyer of Workers’ Party of Turkey (TİP) lawmaker Can Atalay.

Accordingly, Akbay was driving his car on a one-way road in front of the İskenderun Courthouse in the southern province of Hatay at around 8.30 a.m. local time. İskenderun Chief Public Prosecutor Muhammet Emin Ünalan’s car came quickly from the opposite direction and stopped with sudden braking at the last moment, according to reporting from the daily BirGün. 

After stopping his car, Akbay said from his car that “Why are you coming from the opposite direction?”

The bodyguard of the prosecutor shouted, “What's it to you? Go away.” When Bülent Akbay replied, “What a way to talk,” the guard got out of the car and started attacking the lawyer. 

Accordingly, the guard held the lawyer’s both hands and repeatedly hit him in the face. The prosecutor's driver also involved in the attack. Meanwhile, Chief Public Prosecutor Muhammet Emin Ünalan got out of his car and merely watched the attack without intervening.

When the taxi drivers at a nearby stop and the police officers on duty said that the person they attacked was a lawyer, they got into the car and entered the courthouse. 

Lawyer Bülent Akbay’s face was covered in blood, his trousers were torn and he had many blow marks on his body after the attack. 

Akbay entered the courthouse injured and went up to the 5th floor, where Ünalan's office was located. The guard and the driver attacked the lawyer again inside the courthouse. 

On the other hand, Chief Public Prosecutor Muhammet Emin Ünalan told Hatay Bar Association chair, “Neither side should file a complaint, let the incident be closed.”

Following the attack, Bülent Akbay filed a criminal complaint against the Chief Public Prosecutor, the guard and the driver for assault and insult and requested the camera records on the 5th floor to be included.

“I only reacted because they were coming from the opposite direction and they attacked me. They beat me for 10 minutes. Chief Public Prosecutor Muhammet Emin Ünalan did not intervene. On the contrary, he got out of his vehicle and just watched. When the people around said that I was a lawyer, the Chief Prosecutor, his bodyguard and his driver ran away. We will file a complaint against the Chief Public Prosecutor to the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK). Imagine, a prosecutor, his bodyguard and his driver commiting a crime together,” Akbay said.

On the other hand, Hatay Bar Association released a statement and said they requested the immediate dismissals of the driver and the bodyguard. “We will not leave our profession, our colleagues and the rights of our citizens unattended, and that we will follow the issue to the end to punish those responsible.”