Turkish prosecutor ousted, as he predicted, for criticizing Ankara
Turkish prosecutor Eyüp Akbulut was ousted from his post days after he released a video criticizing the government's management of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Duvar English
Turkish prosecutor Eyüp Akbulut was ousted from his post on May 20, mere days after he released a video criticizing the government's management of the COVID-19 pandemic, in which he said that he thought he would lose his job for his statements.
Akbulut said in a video released on May 18 that the nationwide curfew, the mask mandate, the social distancing rules and travel bans were not legally sound because they violated the principle of narrow tailoring, mandatory for legal measures that limit the public's basic rights and freedoms.
The public prosecutor's office of southeastern Şanlıurfa had reported launching an investigation into the prosecutor for his statements, but a May 19 statement from the governor's office had refuted the claim on the grounds that members of the judiciary are exempt from regular prosecution.
A day later, Akbulut was let go of his post as a prosecutor in the province of Şanlıurfa, the Turkish Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) reported on May 20.
Ironically, the article of the Turkish Code of Judges and Prosecutors that the council referred to as the cause of Akbulut's expulsion concerns members of the profession who are the topic of an investigation.