Turkey must restore the legal immunity
of lawmakers, a key body of the Council of Europe said in a report
issued on Monday.
It challenged the process of removing
their inviolability and warning that the country has a problem
protecting freedom of expression.
“The current situation in the Turkish
judiciary makes this the worst possible moment to abolish
inviolability,” the report said.
Since the July 15 failed coup attempt
in Turkey and even before, the country has been purging prosecutors
and judges accused of having links to the Islamic movement of
U.S.-based Turkish preacher, Fethullah Gulen.
The government blames the coup on
Gulen, but he denies this.
In May, Turkey’s parliament where
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP) holds the majority voted to lift the immunity of more
than 135 members of parliament.
The move ended up affecting 55 out of
the 59 members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
Since then, HDP leaders have found
themselves facing prosecution that could result in lengthy jail time.
The measure passed through a complex,
temporary constitutional amendment, which the European report said
“violates the principle of equality”.
The report argued in favour of
strengthening the inviolability of lawmakers, to ensure greater
freedom of speech.
Critics of Erdogan, who was prime
minister from 2003 before becoming president in 2014, said he was
growing increasingly authoritarian.
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