Turkish prosecutor ousted for criticizing Ankara during pandemic reinstated

Duvar English

Turkish prosecutor Eyüp Akbulut, who was ousted from his post on May 20, 2021, days after he released a video criticizing the government's management of the COVID-19 pandemic, has been reinstated. 

In the video Akbulut had said 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. He also said that he thought he would lose his job for his statements.

Then, the public prosecutor's office of southeastern Şanlıurfa had reported launching an investigation into the prosecutor for his statements, but another statement from the governor's office had refuted the claim on the grounds that members of the judiciary are exempt from regular prosecution. 

However, Akbulut was let go of his post as a prosecutor in the province of Şanlıurfa, the Turkish Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) reported.

Akbulut has been reinstated to his post after being acquitted in a related case.