Turkey’s Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) has denied claims that it received a complaint filed against a high-ranking member of the judiciary by his wife that includes allegations of battery and corruption.
The allegations were revealed by journalist Ahmet Şık, also an independent lawmaker from İstanbul, who claimed that the wife of a senior judge who was allegedly beaten by her husband after discovering a secret about his private life filed a complaint that also includes corruption accusations.
“His wife received a medical report indicating battery and filed a complaint against him after being beaten by him and having a tooth broken. Although they didn’t want to accept the complaint due to her husband’s position in the judiciary, the officers eventually accepted it for fear of escalating the issue,” Şık said in a tweet on Friday.
The journalist added that the complaint, which was filed with a deputy chief public prosecutor and then sent to the relevant department that investigates judicial members, included alleged bribery and corruption that resulted in the personal enrichment of the judge.
“The incident is being kept a secret for now due to the judicial member’s post held until very recently that allowed him to be useful to the government by serving as their hitman,” Şık said.
The HSK was quick to deny the allegations in a statement released on its official website later on Friday.
“We respectfully announce to the public that despite the claims on social media that we received a criminal complaint involving allegations against a senior judicial member, we were not sent such a complaint filed with a chief public prosecutor or any other official,” the HSK said.
Şık also commented on the HSK statement on social media, saying that it’s meaningful that the HSK felt obliged to make an urgent statement to deny the claims despite the fact that they merely make vague references to the incident.
The journalist addressed staunchly pro-government journalist Cem Küçük, who initially announced that there would be a statement by the HSK on the issue; Son TV, the news website that covered the HSK’s statement; and Mustafa Doğan İnal, a lawyer representing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who criticized Şık for making such claims.
“The HSK says no complaint was sent to them, but let’s see you ask those in your wide intelligence network whether the chief public prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals received any complaints filed against a senior member of the judiciary, because that’s where the complaint must have been sent,” Şık said.