Fair Trial Rights and Judicial Independence in the 17 and 25 December Proceedings
This report examines the fair-trial and judicial-independence concerns arising from the criminal proceedings brought against law-enforcement officers who participated in the 17 and 25 December 2013 bribery and corruption investigations in Türkiye.
The report finds that the original investigations were conducted through prosecutorial instructions, judicial warrants, court-authorised interceptions, surveillance measures and searches that produced substantial documentary, digital and physical evidence. It further examines how, following the investigations, the officers who collected that evidence were themselves prosecuted and convicted on charges including terrorism-related offences, unlawful interception, espionage and violations of privacy.
Particular attention is given to the removal of investigating officers and prosecutors, the closure of the corruption files, restrictions on access to defence evidence, rejection of witness requests, changes to the judicial panels, prolonged detention and the non-enforcement of the April 2015 release orders. The report also considers the subsequent detention and prosecution of the judges who issued those release decisions.
The report further notes the significance of former minister Erdoğan Bayraktar’s 2021 public statement confirming the accuracy of transcripts, technical-surveillance records and telephone conversations in his own file. It does not treat indictments, expert reports or court judgments as automatically conclusive, but assesses them together with defence submissions, primary documents and international fair-trial standards.
SRL_SWISS_17_25_DECEMBER_ENGLISH_KURUMSAL
