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Ruling AK Party deputies criticize gov't pressure on prosecutor leading graft probe

26 December 2013 23:15 (UTC +04:00)

Prosecutor Muammer AkkaÅŸ who was leading the second round of the probe was taken away from the case. “All my colleagues and the public should know that as a public prosecutor I was prevented from carrying out the investigation,” the prosecutor said in a statement on Thursday, adding that pressure had clearly been placed on the judiciary both from the Public Prosecutor's Office and the police, allowing an opportunity for suspects to destroy the evidence.

AkkaÅŸ said although he issued detention and search warrants for the suspects and relayed these to the Ä°stanbul Police Department on Wednesday morning, the police department had not complied with his orders.

"By not implementing the court decisions, police chiefs committed a crime. An opportunity was given to suspects to take measures, escape or mitigate the evidence," he said.

AK Party Hasan Hami YÄ±ldÄ±rÄ±m said pressure on AkkaÅŸ while doing his job is unacceptable. "In a country with rule of law, such a pressure [on the prosecutor] is not legitimate," YÄ±ldÄ±rÄ±m tweeted following AkkuÅŸ's press conference.

AK Party Ä°zmir Deputy Erdal Kalkan also voiced criticism regarding mounting pressure on prosecutors who are leading the corruption investigation.

Kalkan lambasted Ä°stanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Turan ÇolakkadÄ± who publicly expressed his disagreement with Prosecutor AkkaÅŸ in a hasty press conference follwoing the latter's press statement, saying that prosecutors are the republic's prosecutors, not government's.

Many experts criticized Chief Public Prosecutor ÇolakkadÄ± for his pro-government stance regarding the ongoing corruption investigation.