Jurist Prohibition of public from Istanbul mayor trial patently unjust, rights group says

[Dadparvar]

A prohibition on lawyers, journalists, and members of the public from observing the trial of jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu is arbitrary and unfounded, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Monday.

Benjamin Ward, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at HRW, argued the lack of transparency violates İmamoğlu’s right to a fair trial, saying:

The fundamental principle that justice must be seen to be done requires access for journalists, lawyers, and the public, especially when elected officials are on trial and the proceedings are of such public interest. There is a lot of empty space in the huge courtroom that could and should be used to ensure that journalists observing the case are able to effectively follow the proceedings.

In addition to lack of public transparency, the bulk of evidence against İmamoğlu reportedly comes from statements of 15 witnesses whose identities were not disclosed to the defense.

İmamoğlu’s trial began on March 9, in which he is accused of acting as a central figure in a politically motivated mass corruption scheme, facing charges of corruption, bribery, extortion, defrauding public institutions, and laundering proceeds of crime. Four hundred-seven other municipal officials have also been charged, most of whom worked for the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.

Some observers have criticized proceedings as a weaponization of the judicial system by İmamoğlu political opponent Türkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is accused of continuing to political influence the trial. During hearings, Republican People’s Party leader Özgür Özel accused the prosecution of acting on Erdoğan’s orders, saying that the judges have already decided the outcome.

“Looking at these cases as a whole, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that prosecutors are trying to remove İmamoğlu from politics and discredit his party in ways that undermine democracy,” Ward said in an earlier release.

Türkiye’s Constitution establishes that court proceedings should be open to the public unless doing so would create considerable risks to “public morality or public security.” Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights sets out similarly limited circumstances under which the public may be excluded from trials. Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights guarantees a fair hearing in front of an impartial tribunal.

Ward argued that the court should at least open up proceedings to reporters, who could inform the public on the trial, stating:

Imposing arbitrary restrictions on access to this case undermines confidence in the proceedings and violates the requirement under Turkish and international law to conduct justice in public. Instead of limiting the public’s right to information about the case, the authorities should allow journalists to report fully on proceedings and ensure public access to the trial.

The post Prohibition of public from Istanbul mayor trial patently unjust, rights group says appeared first on JURIST - News.

Continue reading...

Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.