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Abdullah Gul: â€œI have no fear to be judgedâ€

20 May 2009 15:50 (UTC +04:00)

Gul said he was deputy leader of Welfare Party for foreign relations when the scandal of â€œlost trillionâ€ took place and he was never addressed the financial issues.â€œI demanded to repeal my immunity. The post of president is a highest office. My only concern is over the damaging of this highest office. I have no fear to be judged if it is necessary as a result of legal procedureâ€.

Welfare Party, closed under the decision of the Constitutional Court in 1997, had to return the funds allocated by the state. The party leadership did not return the funds saying the money had been sent to the partyâ€™s organizations and spent. Inspectors of the Finance Ministry carried out investigation and determined that approximately 1 million liras had been embezzled under counterfeit documents. Ankara General Prosecutorâ€™s Office launched criminal case on the fact. But Abdullah Gul was not held accountable, as he was parliamentarian up to 2007, when he was elected president. After Gul was elected president, it wad disputed whether he would be judged or not. Ankara General Prosecutorâ€™s Office came to the conclusion that president can not be judged and stopped the investigation. An appeal was filed against this decision and Ankaraâ€™s Sincan court passed a decision to judge Abdullah Gul.