Turkish government blasts Constitutional Court’s ruling on jailed journalists
▻http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkeys-top-court-rules-to-release-two-jailed-journalists-local-c
The Constitutional Court’s ruling that the jailing of journalists Şahin Alpay and Mehmet Altan during the trial violates their constitutional rights “is not the final decision,” Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has said.
Yıldırım told reporters on Jan. 12 that the local court will “give the right decision as it has the full knowledge about the case.”
According to the Turkish Constitution, the Constitutional Court is legally superior to lower courts and its rulings are binding, but its Dec. 11 decision on Alpay and Altan drew the ire of some ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) members.
Yıldırım, however, said debating the Constitutional Court’s ruling would not be in line with the principles of a state of law.
“Rushing to comment would be unfair to the court,” he added, noting that the top court merely ruled against the grounds for arrest during the trial.
The Constitutional Court’s decision covers the pre-trial detention period, before the preparation of the prosecutor’s indictment, and the process after the indictment should be left to the local court’s decision, Yıldırım said.