Turkish local court refuses to abide by top court’s ruling in ‘Isle of Man case’
A Turkish local court has refused to enforce a verdict of the top appeals court and sentenced main opposition CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu once again to pay compensation over his claim that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his family had offshore accounts on the tax haven of Isle of Man.
Duvar English
A Turkish local court has refused to abide by the Court of Cassation’s ruling that had reversed a fine imposed on main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in a lawsuit known as the “Isle of Man case.”
In a retrial of the case, the Istanbul Anatolian 20th Civil Court of First Instance on June 22 ruled that Kılıçdaroğlu pay 489,000 liras in non-pecuniary damages to Erdoğan, online news outlet T24 reported.
This ruling came although local courts in Turkey are legally obliged to enforce the verdicts handed down by the Court of Cassation, the country’s top appeals court.
In April, the Court of Cassation overturned a verdict that had ordered Kılıçdaoğlu to pay compensation over his claims that Erdoğan and his family had offshore accounts on the Isle of Man.
Following the Court of Cassation’s ruling, a retrial took place, with the Istanbul Anatolian 20th Civil Court of First Instance once again ruling in favor of Erdoğan.
The CHP leader’s lawyer Celal Çelik said on Twitter that the Erdoğan-government was putting pressure on the judiciary, but despite this “the winner will be Kemal Kılıçdaoğlu.”