The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has prepared a summary of proceedings against main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for the removal of his parliamentary immunity so that he can be tried on charges of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the pro-government Sabah daily reported on Thursday.
If Kılıçdaroğlu’s immunity is removed, he will stand trial on charges of insulting Erdoğan and will face a 14 to 56 month-jail sentence.
The 11-page summary of proceedings for Kılıçdaroğlu was prepared after Erdoğan filed a criminal complaint against the main opposition leader due to a speech he made at the Beşiktaş Municipality in İstanbul on Jan. 5. Erdoğan claimed in the complaint he filed on Jan. 8 that Kılıçdaroğlu insulted him in his speech at the municipality.
In the summary of proceedings it is claimed that Kılıçdaroğlu insulted Erdoğan over the Dec.17-25, 2013 corruption investigations in which Erdoğan’s close circle was implicated as well as with his allegations that relatives of Erdoğan sent millions of dollars to an offshore company based on the Isle of Man. Kılıçdaroğlu also presented authentic documentation that proved his assertions; however, prosecutors took no action against Erdoğan’s family members.
The prosecution of members of Parliament has been possible since the CHP and the
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) lent support to a 2016 proposal submitted by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on removing deputies’ immunity from prosecution.
The immunity of all deputies who face investigation was lifted in May 2016. Currently, there are eight pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputies who are in jail on charges of terrorist links as well as one CHP deputy.