Former CHP leader faces prison for insulting ex-minister implicated in graft probe

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the former leader of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), is facing a prison sentence of up to 26 months on charges of insulting a former minister who was implicated in a corruption probe in late 2013, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Kılıçdaroğlu, who has no parliamentary immunity since he is no longer a member of parliament, has been charged with insulting a public official due to his remarks targeting Erdoğan Bayraktar, a former minister of environment and urban planning.

Bayraktar was one of four ministers implicated in bribery and corruption investigations that went public on December 17-25, 2013, sending shockwaves across the country.

The probe implicated, among others, the family members of four cabinet ministers as well as the children of then-prime minister and current president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Despite the scandal resulting in the resignation of the cabinet members, the investigation was dropped after prosecutors and police chiefs were removed from the case. Erdoğan, officials of his ruling  Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the pro-government media described the investigation as an attempt to overthrow the government.

The former CHP leader is standing trial due to his remarks in a speech during a meeting of his party in İstanbul on November 26, 2014 in which he talked about the December 17-25 bribery and corruption investigations and referred to some of the government officials including Bayraktar as “thieves.”

According to the indictment, Kılıçdaroğlu’s remarks targeting the former minister fall outside the limits of freedom of speech and constitute insult.

Kılıçdaroğlu lost his parliamentary immunity when he declined to run for a seat in the legislature in the May general election last year and instead competed against Erdoğan for the position of head of state.

In the wake of calls from within his party for a change of leadership, Kılıçdaroğlu was voted out of CHP leadership at a party congress in November and replaced by the current CHP leader, Özgür Özel.

He did not attend the latest hearing of his trial at an İstanbul court on Thursday. The trial was adjourned until May 30.